§ 200. Action for separation. An action may be maintained by a husband
or wife against the other party to the marriage to procure a judgment
separating the parties from bed and board, forever, or for a limited
time, for any of the following causes:

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.

3. The neglect or refusal of the defendant-spouse to provide for the
support of the plaintiff-spouse where the defendant-spouse is chargeable
with such support under the provisions of section thirty-two of this
chapter or of section four hundred twelve of the family court act.

* 4. The commission of an act of adultery by the defendant; except
where such offense is committed by the procurement or with the
connivance of the plaintiff or where there is voluntary cohabitation of
the parties with the knowledge of the offense or where action was not
commenced within five years after the discovery by the plaintiff of the
offense charged or where the plaintiff has also been guilty of adultery
under such circumstances that the defendant would have been entitled, if
innocent, to a divorce, provided that adultery for the purposes of this
subdivision 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 by the defendant; except
where such offense is committed by the procurement or with the
connivance of the plaintiff or where there is voluntary cohabitation of
the parties with the knowledge of the offense or where action was not
commenced within five years after the discovery by the plaintiff of the
offense charged or where the plaintiff has also been guilty of adultery
under such circumstances that the defendant would have been entitled, if
innocent, to a divorce, provided that adultery for the purposes of this
subdivision 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 confinement of the defendant in prison for a period of three or
more consecutive years after the marriage of plaintiff and defendant.