Although he wants to, my friend will not leave his wife because he’s afraid of the consequences of asset separation.
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Yes, lots of folks in this situation. (Then add in kids and make the situation more combustible.) Many of them live “don’t ask, don’t tell” lives – that is, together they have had zero sex life for many years but they don’t talk about it and pretend that it isn’t an issue… while one or both of them has something going on very discreetly on the side. It’s just not discussed. I don’t think in most cases either spouse really cares what the other one is doing – they just don’t want to know about it. They get along just fine otherwise, so why rock the boat?