New York

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 60 out of 100

New York sets post-divorce maintenance by a statutory formula up to an income cap, gives an advisory schedule for how long it lasts, and presumes the less monied spouse gets counsel fees. Judges still divide marital property by weighing factors with no equal-split rule. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” New York ranks 13 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	15 / 20	Marital property is distributed equitably after weighing sixteen statutory factors, with no presumption of equal division, and separate property is not distributed. N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 236(B)(5)(c)-(d)
Alimony	5 / 20	The court must order the statutory post-divorce maintenance formula amount on payor income up to the income cap unless it finds that amount unjust or inappropriate on listed factors, and it may set duration using an advisory schedule of 15-30, 30-40 or 35-50 percent of the length of the marriage. N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 236(B)(6)(b)-(f)
Fault	10 / 20	Marital fault counts in equitable distribution only when egregious, alongside a statutory domestic violence factor, and counts in maintenance only as acts that inhibited a party’s earning capacity, including domestic violence. Howard S. v. Lillian S., 14 N.Y.3d 431 (2010); N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 236(B)(5)(d)(14), (6)(e)(1)(g)
Lawyers’ fees	10 / 20	There is a rebuttable presumption that counsel fees shall be awarded to the less monied spouse. N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 237(a)
Second opinion	20 / 20	New York has no peremptory challenge of judges, and a jury may try only the grounds for divorce, not property or maintenance. N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 173

Getting in

A one-day wait. Apply to a town or city clerk in New York; each party signs a sworn statement and shows proof of age. The ceremony cannot occur within 24 hours after the license issues, unless a judge orders it for imminent death, an emergency, or hardship, and cannot occur after 60 days. The fee is $30, plus up to $10 for the certificate.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law §§ 13, 13-b, 14-a(2)(a), 15(1), 15(4)

Who can marry you. Clergy of any religion, Ethical Culture leaders, listed officials and judges, tribal designees, and a one-day officiant licensed by a clerk for $25 may officiate, with one witness. A couple may instead sign a written contract with two witnesses, acknowledged before a judge. Courts are split on online ordination: one appellate department voided a Universal Life Church marriage, and another declined to follow that ruling.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law §§ 11, 11-d, 12; Ranieri v. Ranieri, 146 A.D.2d 34 (2d Dep’t 1989); Oswald v. Oswald, 107 A.D.3d 45 (3d Dep’t 2013)

Common-law marriage: Closed to new couples. New York abolished common-law marriage on April 29, 1933. Those validly formed before that date remain valid. New York also recognizes a common-law marriage contracted in another state if it was valid where it was contracted.
In re Estate of Benjamin, 34 N.Y.2d 27 (1974); Matter of Mott v. Duncan Petroleum Trans., 51 N.Y.2d 289 (1980); N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 11

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

New York is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Marital property is what either spouse acquires from the wedding until a separation agreement is signed or a divorce action starts, whatever the title says. Premarital property, inheritances, gifts from third parties, and personal injury compensation stay separate. Growth of separate property stays separate except to the extent the other spouse’s contributions or efforts, including homemaking, helped produce it.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 236(B)(1)(c), (d); Price v. Price, 69 N.Y.2d 8 (1986)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

Putting it in joint names usually makes it marital. Separate money commingled in a joint bank account loses its separate character, and a presumption arises that each spouse is entitled to a share. The depositing spouse can overcome it with clear and convincing evidence that the account existed only for convenience, or with evidence that one spouse alone managed the account or that the money was there only briefly.
Crescimanno v. Crescimanno, 33 A.D.3d 649 (2d Dep’t 2006); Brown v. Brown, 147 A.D.3d 896 (2d Dep’t 2017); Albertalli v. Albertalli, 124 A.D.3d 941 (N.Y. App. Div. 2015)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

The spouse who got the care pays first. The common-law necessaries doctrine applies to both spouses, but the spouse who received the goods or services is primarily liable; a creditor must first pursue that spouse, may reach the other spouse only if the recipient’s resources are insufficient, and must show the necessaries were furnished on the other spouse’s credit and that the other spouse can pay.
Medical Business Associates, Inc. v. Steiner, 183 A.D.2d 86 (2d Dep’t 1992)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

The surviving spouse may elect the greater of $50,000 (or the whole net estate if smaller) or one-third of the net estate, and the estate for this purpose includes testamentary substitutes such as joint and payable-on-death accounts, jointly held property, retained-interest or revocable transfers, gifts within one year of death and certain retirement benefits.
N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 5-1.1-A (decedents dying on or after Sept. 1, 1992)

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

Two looks, under its own statute (DRL § 236(B)(3)); New York did not adopt the UPAA. An agreement made before or during marriage is valid if written, subscribed and acknowledged, and a court may set it aside for fraud, duress, or manifest unfairness produced by overreaching. Maintenance terms get a second look: they must be fair and reasonable when made and not unconscionable at the time of final judgment. Postnuptial agreements are governed by the same statute and standard.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 236(B)(3); Christian v. Christian, 42 N.Y.2d 63 (1977)

What an agreement needs. The agreement must be in writing, subscribed by both parties, and acknowledged or proven in the manner required to record a deed; an unacknowledged agreement is unenforceable. No statute requires a waiting period, independent counsel or a disclosure schedule; maintenance terms must be fair when made and not unconscionable at judgment, spouses cannot contract away support so that one is likely to become a public charge, and child-related terms are subject to DRL § 240.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 236(B)(3); N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-311; Matisoff v. Dobi, 90 N.Y.2d 127 (1997)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. New York applies set percentages to both parents’ combined income, up to a cap: 17 percent for one child, 25 for two, 29 for three, 31 for four, and at least 35 for five or more. Each parent’s share follows their portion of the income. Support runs until 21 unless the child is emancipated earlier. A judge may award college expenses.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 240(1-b)(b), (c)(2), (c)(7)

Moving away with a child. Case law, not a statute, sets the test, and the sections read set no notice period. Since 1996 the court weighs each request on all its facts, with predominant emphasis on the child’s best interests and no fixed presumptions. The parent seeking to relocate generally bears the burden of showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the move serves the child.
Matter of Tropea v. Tropea, 87 N.Y.2d 727 (1996); Osuagwu v. Osuagwu, No. 2024-08282 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep’t Mar. 18, 2026)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: two years. A spouse with no prior tie must live in New York for two continuous years before filing. One year is enough if the couple married in New York or lived there as spouses, or if a specific cause such as adultery occurred there; none is needed if it occurred there and both spouses live there. A 2015 trial court held an irretrievable breakdown is not such a cause.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 230; Stancil v. Stancil, 47 Misc. 3d 873 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County 2015)

How long it takes. One spouse’s sworn statement that the relationship has broken down irretrievably for at least six months establishes the ground, even over objection. No separation or waiting period applies, but no judgment issues until property, support, fees, and custody are settled or decided. Since 2026, the grounds based on a separation decree or written separation agreement take six months, not one year.
N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 170(5)-(7); Hoffer-Adou v. Adou, 121 A.D.3d 618 (1st Dep’t 2014)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 730 days from arrival to a final decree (730 days of residence; six-month breakdown runs during it). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in New York and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a New York lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in New York” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.