Legislation

§ 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 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.

(5) The spouses have lived apart pursuant to a decree or judgment of
separation for a period of six months or more after the granting of such
decree or judgment, and satisfactory proof has been submitted by the
plaintiff that such plaintiff has substantially performed all the terms
and conditions of such decree or judgment.

(6) The spouses 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 six months or more after the execution of such
agreement and satisfactory proof has been submitted by the plaintiff
that such plaintiff 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.