Adultery cannot be proved by the confession of the party alone. Section 171 of the Domestic Relations Law provides for 4 affirmative defenses to a divorce action based on adultery. An affirmative defense is one that must be pleaded. If proved, an affirmative defense results in the dismissal of the divorce action. Procurement or connivance.
Procurement is the encouragement of adultery.
Connivance is the consent to the adultery. Statute of limitations. A divorce action founded on adultery must be brought within 5 years of the discovery of the adultery. The husband and wife have lived apart pursuant to a decree or judgment of separation for a period of one or more years after the granting of such decree or judgment, and satisfactory proof has been submitted by the plaintiff that he or she has substantially performed all the terms and conditions of such decree or judgment. If, after a judgment of separation has been granted, the parties live separate and apart for one or more years, either party may commence a divorce action based on the judgment of separation.