Separation

Nope. He is having and affair. He is not separated. There is no such thing as legal separation in NC. You are separated the day you move out. Paper or not. She could open herself up to an Alienation of Affection lawsuit.

don5327 is correct. It sounds as though your friend is dating a married man.
He is either living a double life and givin the same excuse that a lot of married men give or he honestly believes that they are separated (not a likely choice). I would have to say that if he’s looked into separation then he would know what has to happen in order for NC to consider him to be separated from his wife.
In today’s market, selling the home in order to separate could take a lot longer than anticipated so it’s never a good idea. Add that to the year and day living separate that is required before he can file for absolute divorce and you could be talking years…
Suggest that you advise your friend to cut her losses before she’s too deeply involved and his wife finds out. If it were me, I would probably find a way for his wife to find out as I was breaking things off…but that’s just me.

No, there is no legal separation in this state. Your friend should be careful, this relationship could expose her to legal liability.

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Here’s my question…a friend of mine is dating someone who claims that he and his wife are legally separated. Here’s the info- they still live under the same roof because he claims they can’t afford to live separately until the house is sold,yet he claims they are legally separated. They have never lived in separate addresses.

Is this legal?

Greg