No, you are not required to legally separate to divorce in Rochester or anywhere else in New York.

Under reforms passed in 2010, one spouse can file unilaterally if they wish, under the Irretrievable Breakdown grounds, and start a divorce at any point in time, assuming residency requirements are met.

If your divorce is uncontested, meaning that you and your spouse agree to terms like division of property, child custody and support, and financial arrangements like spousal maintenance, filing under Irretrievable Breakdown (also known as no-fault) can be your fastest, most cost effective approach to ending your marriage.

If you and your spouse don’t agree on some elements and are looking at a contested divorce action, you can still file under Irretrievable Breakdown, with no requirement to legally separate.

Using this ground, rather than something like adultery, is much easier and less costly.

Using other grounds means that you have to put together a case, much like in a criminal prosecution, that proves wrongdoing on your spouse’s part.

These are difficult to prove, emotionally taxing to compile, and expensive to gather evidence for.

The attorneys at Friedman & Ranzenhofer can help you have the most straightforward divorce possible in Rochester.

Call us today at 585-484-7432 for a legal consultation with an experienced Rochester divorce attorney.