Separate maintenance is still available in Mississippi. I have several extremely religious clients ask about it when their spouse leaves. Essentially, it is an equitable remedy created by the court for the spouse who leaves to either resume cohabitation with their spouse or pay them sufficient support as they would as if they are still living together. There are all kinds of little quirks in this such as the spouse seeking it cannot be materially at fault for the separation and the spouse has to be willing to take back their spouse if they wish to return with certain caveats. The law in this area is real tricky and has not been discussed much in recent years.
Yesterday, the Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down Jackson v. Jackson, 2011-CA-01882-COA. This is the longest opinion regarding separate maintenance I have seen in a good while and goes through most of the relevant law on the issue. The Court of Appeals in this case reversed and rendered the judgment of the Itawamba County Chancery Court. Without getting into all the details, the decision was reversed mainly due to the proof presented showed that Ms. Jackson was materially at fault for the separation of the parties. The Court seemed to base part of their opinion on the fact that Ms. Jackson appeared to commit fraud on the trial court also in certain 8.05 financial disclosures she made. The opinion is well worth a read if you are going to attempt to prove a case for separate maintenance that will hold up on appeal.
http://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO84329.pdf
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