Has anyone separated without splitting the family up?

[IsItWine0ClockSoon]

Long story short, hubby and I have decided that we would be happier if we weren't together anymore. He's talked about a trial separation before and we have definitely tried to make it work with over 2 years of marriage counselling under our belts.
But....we are not ready or wanting to be ready to split our family up. Call us naive but we want to explore ways that we could still be a family team but not as a loving married couple. We are talking a lot and both feel incredibly lucky that we are not making these decisions under potentially traumatising emotions.

Has anyone got any positive advice on how we could navigate the next step together or ways that have worked for you? Does anyone still live as a family but not 'together'?

Thank you. X x

No advice op but I would think long and hard about this. Its a lovely idea on paper but how would one of you feel if the other met someone else. How would a new relationship work living with your ex?

We lived together for 7 months then lived close by. Still on good term though I decided to move away when I met someone. My kids are adults now and we still occasionally do family things

One of my ex's parents continued to live together for many years after they divorced. The parents seemed very happy about it and regularly had their new long term partners to stay. The kids were all pretty messed up by the weirdness.

I think it's very confusing tbh.

My good friend's parents were friends but not together when I was growing up..Sometimes they lived together, sometimes seperatly. It worked for them and as far as I know it was just normal to my friend.

So how do you move your life forward outside of the relationship?

What is your goal here? To avoid something at any cost, or to achieve something?

IsItWine0ClockSoon do you know what you mean by living as a family?

e.g. if you live near each other and stay on friendly terms, is that living as a family?

That seems doable to me.

Yes. Me and my ex still live in the same house as friends. My ddil and Ds invite him over for Sunday lunch, either with me or not. We want to stay friends for the sake of the dgc.

Just pull the bandaid off, you'll get through it even if it seems daunting right now. Otherwise you'll deprive yourself of the chance at a new fulfilling relationship and will confuse your children.