I married in Januaryr 2010 unfortunately the marriage did not work due to my husband not wanting to help pay household bills; however, now that he moved out and is paying bills somewhere else we decided to date each other exclusivaly but we will live in our respective homes. I'm 43 and he's 41 and we are currently working. I would like to know what would be the benefits of filing for a legal sparation instead of a divorce in regards to social security benefits in the future. We are living separately now (and want to keep it that way). I'm in no hurry to get into another relationship and I'm not in a hurry to get a divorce unless he request it.