N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 200: Action for separation

§ 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 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 confinement of the defendant in prison for a period of three or

more consecutive years after the marriage of plaintiff and defendant.

6. The relationship between the spouses has broken down irretrievably

for a period of at least six months, provided that one party has so

stated under oath. No judgment for separation shall be granted under

this subdivision unless and until any applicable, timely and relevant

economic issues, which may include 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 action.