<p>*
Some schools are a lot pickier than others about separation.*</p>
<p>You don’t have to be legally separated with any kind of legal documentation, but schools are going to be wary in some cases. Some “separated couples” still reside in the same household and that always looks odd to schools because virtually any couple could claim such (open sep bank accts, etc) to enable only declaring one income. </p>
<p>In the OPs case, since they have sep addresses, it would be easier for them to verify that they are separated - even if they didn’t have some notarized paper that it sounds like they did themselves and had a notary witness their signatures…</p>