There's nothing wrong with falling in love with a divorcee, but getting involved with a divorced man isn't the same thing as dating a "separated" man. 

Being separated can mean a host of things: he’s in the process of getting divorced; he and his wife are seeing other people; he and his wife don’t live together; or they’re just staying together for the kids. But no matter how you may justify dating a man who is "separated," the bottom line is that he's still married.

Experts agree that regardless of the situation, you shouldn't get involved with a married man until the divorce is finalized — and here are five reasons why:

You’ll be a secret. 

“If his dating you is a secret to his wife, friends, families and even his acquaintances, then he is not in the phase of separation that is ready to date,” says licensed marriage and family therapist Dr. Karen Ruskin. Not to mention, having to hide the relationship is exhausting and damaging to one’s self-esteem. Wouldn’t you want to walk around the world freely, as a couple? You should, because you deserve to.

You won’t be respected.

At some level, he will have difficulty fully respecting you, knowing that you entered into a relationship given his circumstances. And depending on how you both got involved, don’t expect much respect from his friends and family, either.

“A woman of substance and self-respect would not enter into this type of relationship. A man knows that a quality woman wouldn’t get involved in such a flawed relationship, either,” says Ruskin. If anything, you’re helping him prolong his current marriage situation as you’ve now become a safety net.

It will be hard to trust him.

If you were led to believe that he was single when you both met, that should be a deal-breaker. If he lied to you, assume he will continue to lie, says relationship coach Donna Barnes. “People who can lie easily will ultimately end up hurting you. If you begin the relationship with a lie, it will be extremely hard to develop trust later on,” she adds. In other words, he may be trying to have his cake and eat it too.

You’re only fooling yourself.

Does he often tell you how much you mean to him? Have you already started fantasizing about a future together? When you fall in love with a married man, you may convince yourself that it’ll all work out, but it rarely ever will. 

“If you have known each other for less than six months, you don’t really love him: You only think you do," believes Barnes. "That said, take an honest look at yourself and ask why you would let yourself get involved with someone is isn’t completely available for you."

You’ll end up his divorce counselor.

If he is in the process of leaving his wife, it’s an obvious sign there were problems in the marriage. While you may feel like he is confiding in you with those problems, you’re really just becoming his therapist. Who wants to sit around, hearing about why him and his wife didn’t get along, when you could be out having a real relationship with someone only focused on you? 

“His divorce drama is his problem, not yours” says Barnes.     

So, is it ever OK to date a married man?

While she doesn’t condone it, Ruskin says yes — under one circumstance: "Divorces can drag out for reasons beyond one’s control. As long as the divorce papers have been filed and he is transparent with you about this, it can be OK."