In practice, it is not a case of separation when the husband and wife do not live together. At this time, a strict determination should be made from the legal perspective. The separation and divorce in law requires that the husband and wife live apart because of emotional discord, and the separation will last for two years at this time. During the separation, both parties do not perform their obligations as husband and wife. If these conditions are not met, divorce cannot be achieved through separation. According to Paragraph 2 of Article 32 of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, the legal condition for divorce is that the relationship between husband and wife has indeed broken. Paragraph 3 stipulates that the specific criteria for the broken relationship between husband and wife include:
 1. Bigamy or cohabitation of a married person with another person
 2. Domestic violence or maltreatment of family members
 3. Gambling, drug taking and other bad habits persist after repeated education
 4. Separated for two years due to emotional discord;
 （5） In other situations that lead to the breakdown of the relationship between husband and wife, the separation stipulated in the fourth paragraph should be composed of two elements: one is that both husband and wife are objectively in a state of separation, that is, there is no common life with fixed marital significance between husband and wife, such as mutual care, bed sharing, eating at the same table, etc., and at the same time, they do not perform the obligations of husband and wife. The second is that one or both of the husband and wife must have the desire to separate subjectively, that is, the reason for the request for separation is that the feelings of both parties are not harmonious, and one or both of them must have the desire to separate emotionally and psychologically, rather than the simple objective state of separation that has lasted for two years. The two parties to a marriage in prison live completely separate lives in different residences, which of course constitutes an objective separation state. However, evidence support is needed to determine whether the separation is caused by emotional discord, which will undoubtedly increase the difficulty for the parties to adduce evidence. The author believes that there is no need to discuss the good or bad feelings of the parties before and after imprisonment, because the situation of emotional breakdown does not necessarily require separation for two years, because separation for two years due to emotional discord is only one of the factors that determine emotional breakdown
 1、 Instead of necessary factors, we can find other situations that lead to the breakdown of the couple's relationship if we want to divorce. According to the 11th item of the situation stipulated in the Supreme People's Court's Several Specific Opinions on How People's Courts Decide That the Couple's Relationship Has Really Broken in the Trial of Divorce Cases, "One party is sentenced to long-term imprisonment according to law, or his illegal or criminal acts seriously hurt the couple's feelings, If one party's imprisonment seriously harms the feelings of the husband and wife, it does not need to live apart for two years, but it can also be considered that the feelings of the husband and wife have broken down, which can better protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, and also give criminals a certain deterrent force. The criminal's imprisonment will end up harming others and themselves, and it is also very likely to lead to the separation of the wife and children.