Former Presidential Candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth have legally separated after more than 30 years of marriage.

The couple’s separation comes after months of controversy. John admitted to having an affair with a Rielle Hunter, a videographer whom he worked with before the start of his second presidential campaign. Then when Hunter claimed John was the father of her child, John repeatedly denied his paternity. It was only last week that John finally admitted he was the father of Hunter’s daughter.

This is not the first hardship to hit the Edwards, although it is the one to break their marriage. In 2007 Elizabeth learned her cancer had returned, which is now in stage four and has been diagnosed as incurable. And in 1996 John and Elizabeth lost their oldest son Wade after he was killed in a car accident.

The couple’s separation also coincides with the release of a book by John’s longtime, now former aide Andrew Young.  In his book, Young claims John asked him to lie about the fact that he fathered a child with Hunter.

Neither Elizabeth nor John has made any public statements regarding their separation.  Elizabeth says the claims Young makes in his book are false and exaggerated. 

The Edwards filed for separation in North Carolina, where the divorce law states that a couple must legally separate for 12 months before they can file for divorce.