Find out what constitutes the grounds for divorce

Discover what situations are grounds for divorce

Is it time to end your marriage? Do you have grounds for divorce? Many different situations count as grounds for divorce, such as cruel and inhumane treatment that makes it unsafe or improper for you to continue living together. This includes both mental and physical abuse.

If you have been abandoned for more than one year, you also have grounds for divorce, so contact Stevan A. Nosonowitz to start divorce proceedings.

Experienced in matrimonial law

Other situations that are grounds for divorce are incarceration for at least 3 consecutive years after marriage and adultery, so get an expert in matrimonial law on your side and contact a locally-owned law firm.

Stevan A. Nosonowitz has over 30 years of experience and is licensed to practice in the state of New York and in federal court. Call now to get a consultation from a New York Super Lawyer.

To file for divorce in New York, you must meet the residency requirements set forth by the state. Your case will not be accepted or eventually be dismissed if the court finds that it does not have the jurisdictional right to hear your case. Read below to find out if you meet the residency requirements and have grounds for divorce.

Required residence for filing

An action to annul a marriage, or to declare the nullity of a void marriage, or for divorce or separation may be maintained only when:

1. The parties were married in the state and either party is a resident thereof when the action is commenced and has been a resident for a continuous period of one year immediately preceding, or

2. The parties have resided in this state as husband and wife and either party is a resident thereof when the action is commenced and has been a resident for a continuous period of one year immediately preceding, or

3. The cause occurred in the state and either party has been a resident thereof for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding the commencement of the action, or

4. The cause occurred in the state and both parties are residents thereof at the time of the commencement of the action, or

5. Either party has been a resident of the state for a continuous period of at least two years immediately preceding the commencement of the action.

(Domestic Relations Law § 230)

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 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.

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

(6) The husband and wife 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 one or more years after the execution of such agreement and satisfactory proof has been submitted by the plaintiff that he or she 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) Irretrievable breakdown in relationship for a least six months.

(Domestic Relations Law § 170)