Advice on separation

[KM99]

I have also posted on the relationship board...

My husband and I have agreed to start formal separation. It's been a long time coming and the initial conversations a few months ago were started by me. We are as amicable as we can be right now, staying in the house while we work out the practical next steps. We have 1 DS aged 9. At the moment only a couple of my very close friends know. My husband is a good, fair person (it's just a slow loss of any feelings of husband/wife between us and not being able to give the other person what they need anymore). We both want to do this the "right" way. So what advice to others have about this? Particularly:

• Separating but being under the same roof for a period of time
• Legal documentation
• Eventually telling our child - timing and approach
• Any practical tips?

I'm starting to research online but appreciate the power of the Mumsnet hive mind!

Are you in separate bedrooms?
I wouldn’t tell DS until your living arrangements are fixed. But tell him before he finds out from anyone else. I’ve read of kids finding out at school as their classmate has heard his mum talking about it to another mum.

Yes. We've been in different bedrooms since September. My DS thinks it's due to snoring and me being a light sleeper, which is true in part. Tbh we've acted much more like coparents than husband and wife for a good while, so it's not going to look like a big change to him. We've discussed telling him once we've got an agreement laid out, decide to put the house on the market etc.