• Understand Your Position Under New York Law. New York’s divorce statutes cover grounds, equitable distribution, spousal maintenance, custody, and child support, and each rule carries exceptions that depend on the specific facts of your marriage. A consultation gives you a clear picture of what you are entitled to, what you may be responsible for, and how the law actually applies to your situation, before you make decisions that are hard to undo.
• Protect Your Financial Picture. Pittsford households often involve a mix of retirement accounts, real estate equity, professional practice income, executive compensation, business ownership, and inherited or pre-marital property. Sorting out what is marital, what is separate, and how each asset is valued is a process that benefits from early planning. Acting early helps preserve documentation, identify hidden assets, and avoid choices that compromise your financial future.
• Build a Strategy from Day One. Not every divorce belongs in court. Some are best handled through mediation, others through collaborative divorce, and a smaller subset through litigation. Picking the right path is a strategic decision driven by your goals, your spouse’s likely posture, and what is actually at stake. The earlier that decision is made with good counsel, the better the outcome usually is.
• Avoid the Early Mistakes That Are Hardest to Fix. Moving out of the family home, opening or closing accounts, signing informal agreements with your spouse, or posting on social media all carry consequences that follow you through the case. Talking with a Pittsford divorce attorney before making any of these moves keeps options open and protects your position.

A confidential consultation is the cleanest first step, and a single conversation often clarifies more than weeks of independent research.

Grounds for Divorce in New York: What Pittsford Residents Need to Know

New York recognizes one no-fault ground and six fault grounds for divorce. The ground you cite affects timing, evidence requirements, and sometimes strategy, even though New York’s equitable distribution and support rules apply uniformly. Our attorneys walk every Pittsford client through which grounds apply and which serve their goals best.

Irretrievable Breakdown: No-Fault Divorce

Since 2010, New York has allowed divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage for a continuous period of at least six months. No-fault is now the most common path in Monroe County divorce filings because it removes the need to prove wrongdoing. However, the divorce itself cannot be finalized until the parties resolve every related issue, including equitable distribution, spousal maintenance, child custody, parenting time, and child support. For Pittsford families with complex assets or contested parenting plans, no-fault still requires skilled negotiation or, when necessary, litigation to bring those issues to resolution.

Imprisonment

If one spouse has been imprisoned for three or more consecutive years after the marriage, the other spouse may file for divorce on this ground.

Cruel and Inhuman Treatment

This ground covers conduct by one spouse, physical or emotional, that endangers the other’s well-being and makes continued cohabitation unsafe or unreasonable. Specific evidence and a recent pattern of behavior are required to support a filing on this ground.

Living Apart Under a Separation Agreement

Spouses who have lived separately under a written separation agreement for at least one year may proceed with divorce on this ground, provided the agreement has been filed with the county clerk and substantially complied with by both parties.

Abandonment

Abandonment requires that one spouse has left the other for at least one continuous year without consent and without justification. Constructive abandonment, such as a continuous refusal of marital relations, can also qualify under this ground.

Adultery

Adultery remains a recognized ground but requires corroborating proof from a source other than the parties themselves. It is rarely used today because of the evidentiary burden and because no-fault provides a simpler path to the same outcome.