At a time when divorce proceedings were nearly impossible in Québec, couples would seek an order of “separation from bed and board.” Between 1900 and 1930, the number of legal separation cases steadily increased. A sample of 500 such cases reveals that 83% of applications for separation were brought by wives against their husbands for ill treatment, while the husbands alleged that their wives committed adultery. Custody of the children was generally granted to the mother. After about 1920, judges were more inclined to grant legal separation on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, which demonstrates a shift in the expectations toward married life.