This page will discuss the necessary requirements for obtaining a divorce in New York State, and, of course, Long Island.

Click on any of the following to be brought to the corresponding section.

Residency Requirements
Grounds for Divorce

Child Support

Residency Requirements

In order to obtain a divorce in New York State, it is necessary to meet certain qualifications: residency requirements and an acceptable ‘ground’ for the divorce.

The ‘Residency Requirement’ for a divorce may be met in one or more of the following manners:
At the time of the commencement of the action:
1)         both parties to the divorce are residents of New York State.       OR
2)         one party to the divorce has resided in New York for a period of two years or more. OR
3)         one party has been residing in New York for one year AND the parties were married in New York.            OR
4)         one party has been residing in NY for one year AND the parties both resided in NY during the marriage    OR
5)         one party has been residing in New York for one year AND the grounds for divorce arose in the State of New York.

'Grounds' for Divorce in New York State

Unlike many other states, New York still requires that divorcing couples has one or more specific ‘grounds’ for divorce. In other words, in New York, there are no divorces granted for simple irreconcilable differences between the parties. If the parties are not able to establish one or more of these grounds, the court will not grant the parties the divorce they request.

Domestic Relations Law Section 170 sets forth the six acceptable grounds used to obtain a New York State divorce:  

(1)  Cruel and inhuman treatment- Under this ground for divorce, the plaintiff must establish that the conduct of the defendant so endangers  the  physical and / or mental well-being of the plaintiff as renders it unsafe or improper for the plaintiff to cohabit with the defendant. Specific acts must be alleged occurring within five (5) years of the date of the commencement of the divorce action.

(2) The abandonment of the plaintiff by the defendant for a period of one or more years immediately prior to the filing of a summons for divorce (actual abandonment).  (This ground could also be used when the defendant refuses to have sexual relations with the plaintiff for a period of one or more years immediately prior to the filing of a summons for divorce. This is called constructive abandonment.)

(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 (usually not a preferred ground to choose, as this ground could make a divorce even more contentious and can be difficult to prove)

(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.

Overall, the least contentious divorces are those wherein the parties are divorced under the theory of constructive abandonment, or after the parties have lived separate and apart under the terms of a separation agreement.

Child Support