N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 200

DRL § 200: the grounds for a judgment of separation in New York

Domestic Relations Law § 200 sets out the grounds on which a married person may maintain an action for a separation from bed and board in New York.

Official text N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 200 — New York

§ 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.

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

A separation action is a distinct proceeding from divorce: it produces a judgment of separation from bed and board, forever or for a limited time, and the marriage continues. Section 200 lists the grounds on which such an action may be maintained, and they track the fault grounds familiar from divorce - cruel and inhuman treatment, abandonment, neglect or refusal to provide for the spouse, adultery, and confinement in prison for three or more consecutive years.

The reason the action still exists is that a judgment of separation does things a divorce does not, and does not do things a divorce does. It leaves the marriage in place, which matters where remarriage is not wanted, where religious considerations apply, or where benefits and status depend on the marriage continuing. And it feeds directly into § 170(5): spouses who have lived apart under a decree or judgment of separation for six months or more, with proof of substantial performance of its terms, have a ground for divorce.

The most commonly used ground in this section is the one with no equivalent in the divorce list: the neglect or refusal of a spouse to provide for the other. That makes the separation action a route to support in a marriage that is not being dissolved. As with divorce, the residence requirements of § 230 apply to an action for separation.

When it applies

  • A spouse wants support and a legal status short of divorce.
  • A couple wishes to separate formally without dissolving the marriage.
  • A spouse has been left without provision and wants the court to intervene.
  • Parties want a judgment of separation as a route to a divorce six months later.
  • Religious or benefit considerations make dissolving the marriage undesirable.

What this section does not say

  • It does not end the marriage. A judgment of separation leaves the parties married and neither free to remarry.
  • It is not a separation agreement. An agreement is a contract the parties make; this section is about a judgment the court grants.
  • It does not distribute property. Equitable distribution is dealt with in § 236.
  • It does not remove the residence requirement - § 230 applies to separation actions as well as divorce.
  • It does not give a divorce automatically after six months; § 170(5) requires proof of substantial performance of the decree's terms.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

A spouse who has not worked outside the home for a decade is left with nothing coming in when the other moves out and closes the joint account. Religious objections mean neither of them wants the marriage dissolved.

How the wording applies

Section 200 lists neglect or refusal to provide for a spouse as a ground for a judgment of separation, and that ground has no equivalent in the divorce list. A judgment of separation leaves the marriage in place, which is the whole reason the action still exists. The fact it rests on is whether provision has actually been withheld, not whether the marriage is over.

How the parties settled it

They agree a monthly household figure backdated to the month of the move-out, and put it in writing with the payment date named, so that the amount is not renegotiated every month.

Illustrative example

A couple accept the marriage is finished but disagree about pace. One wants to file for divorce now; the other wants a formal period of separation first, partly for their parents' sake.

How the wording applies

A judgment of separation feeds directly into § 170(5): living apart under a decree or judgment of separation for six months or more is itself a ground for divorce. The words that decide whether the wait counts for anything are "substantial performance" - the six months only earn the ground if the terms of the decree were actually kept.

How the parties settled it

They agree to separation terms deliberately modest enough that both can keep them - a fixed transfer on the first of each month and a contact schedule with no midweek changes - precisely because breaking them would waste the six months.

Illustrative example

Two spouses drew up their own separation document at the kitchen table, signed it, and told nobody. One of them now accuses the other of being "in contempt" for ignoring the payment clause.

How the wording applies

Section 200 governs a judgment of separation that a court grants after an action on one of the listed grounds. A document the parties wrote for themselves is a contract and is enforced as one. The argument turns on a single fact: nothing was ever put before a court, so there is no order to be in contempt of.

How the parties settled it

They agree that what they signed is a contract between them, replace it with a cleaner version carrying dates and figures, and drop the language about breach of an order that does not exist.

Related sections

N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 170 DRL § 170: the seven grounds for divorce in New York N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 230 1-year residence required (with exceptions) - NY DRL § 230 N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 234 DRL § 234: who stays in the house while the divorce runs N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-311 Void Support Waivers: N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-311

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 200 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in New York.

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