Applying for PR when separated from EEA national?

[aturia]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help. My partner married an EEA national in 2003 but they separated when we got together about 3 years later (we're in a same sex relationship). They haven't got divorced and are still on good terms. She's got a resident card that's valid until 2011 (passport was stolen so the time was extended). Does anyone know if she could still apply for permant residency even though they're not living together anymore? We've heard that the main criteria is that they lived together for at least a year and have been married for than 3, and that it's possible to obtain PR as long as the couple is not divorced, but we'd really appreciate some clarification on this.

Also, we'd much rather that she was able to stay in the country because of her relationship with me (I'm British) rather than her former partner but this doesn't seem possible - we were told some time ago that if she gets divorced she would need to leave the county straight away, and that we could only get 'married' in her home county. However, looking though the messages on this board it seems as though people are getting divorced and re-marrying in the UK. How is this possible?! I saw something about Retention of Rights but can't find much information about it online...could she get divorced and marry me without leaving the country?

We'd be very grateful for any insights anyone may have. Thanks very much.

[Wanderer]

Rule is three years marriage one of which in UK.