2023 New York Laws › DOM - Domestic Relations › Article 10 - Action for Divorce › 170 - Action for Divorce.

§  170. Action for divorce. An action for divorce may be maintained by
a husband or wife to  procure  a  judgment  divorcing  the  parties  and
dissolving the marriage on any of the following grounds:
(1)  The cruel and inhuman treatment of the plaintiff by the defendant
such that the conduct of the defendant  so  endangers  the  physical  or
mental  well being of the plaintiff as renders it unsafe or improper for
the plaintiff to cohabit with the defendant.
(2) The abandonment of the plaintiff by the defendant for a period  of
one or more years.
(3)  The  confinement of the defendant in prison for a period of three
or more consecutive years after the marriage of plaintiff and defendant.
* (4) The commission of an act of adultery, provided that adultery for
the purposes of articles ten, eleven, and eleven-A of this  chapter,  is
hereby  defined  as the commission of an act of sexual intercourse, oral
sexual conduct or anal sexual  conduct,  voluntarily  performed  by  the
defendant,  with a person other than the plaintiff after the marriage of
plaintiff and defendant. Oral sexual conduct  and  anal  sexual  conduct
include,   but  are  not  limited  to,  sexual  conduct  as  defined  in
subdivision two of section  130.00  and  subdivision  three  of  section
130.20 of the penal law.
* NB Effective until September 1, 2024
* (4) The commission of an act of adultery, provided that adultery for
the  purposes  of articles ten, eleven, and eleven-A of this chapter, is
hereby defined as the commission of an act of  vaginal  sexual  contact,
oral sexual contact or anal sexual contact, voluntarily performed by the
defendant,  with a person other than the plaintiff after the marriage of
plaintiff and defendant. Oral sexual contact  and  anal  sexual  contact
include,   but  are  not  limited  to,  sexual  conduct  as  defined  in
subdivision two of section 130.00 and subdivision four of section 130.20
of the penal law.
* NB Effective September 1, 2024
(5) 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.
(6) The husband and wife have lived separate and apart pursuant  to  a
written  agreement  of separation, subscribed by the parties thereto and
acknowledged or proved in the form required to  entitle  a  deed  to  be
recorded,  for a period of one or more years after the execution of such
agreement and satisfactory proof has been  submitted  by  the  plaintiff
that  he or she has substantially performed all the terms and conditions
of such agreement. Such agreement shall be filed in the  office  of  the
clerk of the county wherein either party resides. In lieu of filing such
agreement,  either party to such agreement may file a memorandum of such
agreement,  which  memorandum  shall   be   similarly   subscribed   and
acknowledged  or  proved  as  was  the agreement of separation and shall
contain the following information: (a) the names and addresses  of  each
of the parties, (b) the date of marriage of the parties, (c) the date of
the  agreement  of  separation and (d) the date of this subscription and
acknowledgment or proof of such agreement of separation.
(7)  The  relationship  between  husband  and  wife  has  broken  down
irretrievably  for  a  period  of at least six months, provided that one
party has so stated under oath. No judgment of divorce shall be  granted
under this subdivision unless and until the economic issues of equitable
distribution  of  marital  property,  the  payment  or waiver of spousal
support, the payment of  child  support,  the  payment  of  counsel  and
experts'  fees  and  expenses as well as the custody and visitation with

the infant children of the marriage have been resolved by  the  parties,
or  determined  by  the  court  and  incorporated  into  the judgment of
divorce.