There is an ongoing debate over whether living apart together (LAT) relationships are simply long-term relationships or alternatives to cohabitation or marriage. This study examined cohabitation and marriage expectations among older adults who LAT in the United States to address the debate. The analyses also compared the marriage expectations of older adults who LAT and cohabitors. Using data from the 2011 Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), we examined the union expectations of 250 individuals who LAT and 234 cohabitors. After providing a demographic portrait of older adults who LAT, we used ordered logistic regression models to predict their cohabitation and marriage expectations. Additional models predicted marriage expectations for older adults who LAT versus cohabitors. Older adults who LAT were unlikely to expect to formalize their unions. Adults who LAT were less likely to expect marriage than cohabitors. LAT relationships appear to be long-term partnerships in the United States.

关于分居关系（LAT）是否只是长期关系，还是同居或婚姻的替代方案，一直存在争论。这项研究调查了美国 LAT 老年人的同居和婚姻期望，以解决这一争论。分析还比较了 LAT 和同居的老年人的婚姻期望。使用 2011 年威斯康星州纵向研究 (WLS) 的数据，我们研究了 250 名 LAT 个人和 234 名同居者的工会期望。在提供了 LAT 老年人的人口统计特征后，我们使用有序逻辑回归模型来预测他们的同居和婚姻期望。其他模型预测了 LAT 老年人与同居者的婚姻期望。LAT 的老年人不太可能期望他们的工会正式化。与同居者相比，患有 LAT 的成年人期望结婚的可能性更小。LAT 关系在美国似乎是长期合作伙伴关系。