Should you be friends with an ex-lover? Is friendship with your old flame appropriate, or even fair to your current beau? Maintaining friendship with exes may be a complicated issue, but here are some questions that can help you decide whether your ex is worth keeping around as your chum.

Is your ex the destructive type?

Some hallmarks of a destructive boyfriend: He causes you countless teary sleepless nights, brings you more misery than happiness, is a serial cheater and liar, demands a breakup but begs you to keep him around.

Needless to say, common sense should have you keeping as far a distance from him as possible. If you haven't yet cut loose your former boyfriend, now's obviously the time. He doesn't really want you; he just relishes the idea of you around to keep his options open.

Is your friendship platonic or is there some leftover passion?

As the saying goes, sex changes everything. Once you've been intimate with someone, memories of passion and attraction will often linger, even after the relationship has fizzled. If you choose to hang on to this type of friendship, there's always the risk of turning into 'friends with benefits'. The question is: Can you handle a sexual relationship minus the commitment?

Residual love is another issue that can complicate matters. Be honest with yourself: Are you still hung up on your ex? If the breakup wasn't mutual and you are still silently pinning your hope on a reconciliation, friendship will do more harm than good, especially when you watch him enter a new relationship with someone else.

On the other hand, if the breakup was amicable, both of you have gotten over each other and everything is now platonic, it is possible to still enjoy each other's company and establish a long-term friendship.