## Facts

- Mary and Larry Bennington married in 1946.
- In 1963, Mary suffered a severe stroke and became permanently disabled; the parties had no sexual relations thereafter.
- The parties continued to live on the same premises after Mary’s stroke.
- In 1974, amid domestic tension, Larry began sleeping in a travel van parked on the marital property rather than in the house.
- While sleeping in the van, Larry regularly entered the house, helped with chores, and assisted Mary; he testified he did not intend to abandon his marital responsibilities at that time.
- On November 26, 1976, Larry left Ohio for Arizona for about one month, later returned and stayed in the van for roughly three months, and then obtained an apartment off the premises.
- Mary filed an action for alimony only, alleging gross neglect of duty and abandonment.
- Larry denied Mary’s allegations and counterclaimed for divorce; he amended to rely on the statutory ground that the spouses had lived separate and apart without cohabitation for at least two years.
- The trial court granted Larry a divorce on the two-year “separate and apart without cohabitation” ground, counting the period beginning with Larry’s move to the van, and ordered alimony and certain property dispositions (including sale of the residence and a vehicle).

## Issues

1. Whether time spent sleeping in a travel van on the marital property, while continuing marital services and regular contact, satisfies Ohio’s requirement that spouses live “separate and apart without cohabitation” for two uninterrupted years.
2. Whether the trial court erred by counting the “van” period toward the statutory two-year separation requirement and granting a divorce on that ground.

## Decision

- The appellate court reversed the divorce decree to the extent it rested on the statutory ground of living separate and apart without cohabitation for two years.
- The court held that the period when Larry lived in the van on the same premises could not be counted because the parties were not living separate and apart as the statute requires.
- The matter was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the appellate court’s interpretation, which affected the basis for divorce and related orders dependent on that decree.

## Legal Principles

- Under Ohio’s two-year “separate and apart without cohabitation” divorce ground, spouses must show more than a physical change in sleeping arrangements.
- “Living separate and apart” requires a marital separation, including cessation of marital duties and relations, not merely the absence of sexual relations or residence in a different structure on the same property.
- Evidence that a spouse continued performing substantially the same marital services and maintained regular in-home contact supports a finding that the parties were not living separate and apart in the statutory sense.
- A spouse’s intent matters: a separation period does not run where the conduct shows no intent to end the marital relationship in practice.

## Conclusion

The court held that Ohio’s two-year separation ground requires an actual marital separation marked by an end to marital duties and relations; sleeping in a van on the marital property while continuing household assistance and spousal support did not satisfy the statute, so the divorce granted on that ground was reversed and remanded.


Bennington v. Bennington, 56 Ohio App. 2d 201, 381 N.E.2d 1355 (Ohio Ct. App. 1978)