What are the Grounds for Divorce in New York?
In the state of New York, a complaint of divorce must be established based on one of the following reasons:
- Cruel and inhuman treatment where the plaintiff has suffered a level of physical or mental abuse that reaches the point in which it is no longer safe for the plaintiff to live with the defendant. Grounds for divorce cannot be a matter of mutual disagreement or “irreconcilable differences.”
- Abandonment for a continuous period of one year or more by the defendant prior to initiation of divorce complaint.
- Imprisonment for at least three consecutive years following the actual date of marriage and lasting to the time of the initiation of a divorce complaint.
- Adultery, defined as a voluntary act of sexual intercourse with a person other than your spouse. Adultery is difficult to prove, and a defendant admission to the act is not enough to use this as grounds for divorce.
- Conversion of a separation judgment that has been assigned by a judge or referee of the court. Parties are required to live separate and apart for at least one year prior to initiation of a divorce complaint.
- Conversion of a written separation agreement that has been formed between the parties agreeing to the terms and conditions of separate living arrangements. This agreement must be signed by both parties in the presence of a notary public and then filed with the county clerk in the county in which one of the parties resides.
Grounds for divorce must be made in a verified complaint with relevant facts and details, dates, and places of occurrence. Even uncontested divorces must provide some grounds for filing a divorce complaint, which could be fulfilled with such grounds as the parties living separate and apart for one year after a written separation agreement.
< Go Back to FAQ’s | More Information on Grounds for Divorce >
