my wife left, but still lives with me #3/continued

[tough spot]

I wouldn't do it for manipulative reasons (all though it did enter my mind as a way to 'punish' the wife). I was just wondering if it was right for me to in essence lie to the children. To take on a partial burden of guilt that might not neccessarily be due me. I probably will stick to the united front deal for the benefit of the children.

Anyone know the particulars of legal separation versus divorce? My wife filed for legal separation today based on research we did that it would be better for our taxes (a large amount of money saved by filing married/jointly versus two separate heads of household, times several years, makes up for the additional cost of converting to a divorce when/if either of want to get remarried).

I have a few calls into some CPA firms to verify. We both discussed that for us there is no distinction between the two. Was just wondering if anyone has any experience with that.