N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 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 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.