New York divorce law shifted more in the 18 months between mid-2025 and early 2026 than it had in the previous decade. If you’ve been reading about the six-month separation rule and wondering whether it applies to your situation, or if you have a pending case and aren’t sure whether recent statutory changes affect it, the rules governing how Bronx residents file, disclose finances, and calculate support have all changed. Much of what you’ll find online still describes the old framework. If you need a divorce attorney in the Bronx residents trust, we’re here to help.
Attorney Jayson Lutzky has practiced New York family law since 1985, and our firm has guided thousands of families through procedural shifts, legislative amendments, and docket-level changes at Bronx County Supreme Court. What follows is a plain-language explanation of what actually changed, what it means for cases filed here, and what questions you should be asking if you’re considering a divorce or already in the middle of one.
Separation Waiting Period Cut in Half Under Chapter 673
Chapter 673 of the Laws of 2025 reduced the living-apart requirement under Domestic Relations Law (DRL) Sections 170(5) and 170(6) from 12 months to 6 months, effective March 1, 2026. These subsections cover divorces based on a written separation agreement or a court-issued separation decree. If you and your spouse have been living apart under a formal written agreement, you now only need to satisfy six months of separation before you can file for divorce on that ground.
The same legislation added a no-fault legal separation ground under DRL Section 200, subdivision 6. Spouses can now pursue legal separation without proving fault, provided they resolve support and custody issues, mirroring the structure of the 2010 no-fault divorce reform that introduced DRL 170(7). That ground, irretrievable breakdown, remains unchanged and doesn’t require a formal separation agreement at all, while 170(5) and 170(6) do. If you’re weighing which ground fits your circumstances, those are two meaningfully different paths with different procedural requirements.
New Venue Rules Changed Where Bronx Residents Must File
Effective February 19, 2025, amendments to CPLR 515 require divorce and related family actions to be filed in a county where at least one party or a minor child actually resides. Limited exceptions exist for safety and confidentiality concerns, but filing in a more convenient or strategically favorable upstate county is no longer an option for most people.
For Bronx residents, that means proceedings generally must be filed in Bronx County Supreme Court at 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451. The Matrimonial Support Bureau, located in Room 217, processes both uncontested and contested divorce actions filed in the county. The Bronx Supreme Court matrimonial part carries one of the higher-volume dockets in the state. Judges there typically push cases through conference processes and alternative dispute resolution before setting matters for trial. That procedural culture affects realistic timelines and shapes how contested cases should be approached from the start. Filing in the Bronx isn’t just a logistical fact; it’s a strategic context.
Updated Support Income Caps & What They Mean for Your Case
On March 1, 2026, both major support income caps were adjusted upward to reflect Consumer Price Index increases. These aren’t dramatic jumps, but they matter when income is near the threshold:
- Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) combined parental income cap: rose from $183,000 to $193,000
- Maintenance Guidelines Act income cap on the paying spouse’s income: rose from $228,000 to $241,000
- Self Support Reserve: increased from $21,128 to $21,546
- Federal Poverty Level Income used in support calculations: rose from $15,650 to $15,960
The Self Support Reserve and Poverty Level Income figures protect lower-income parents from support orders that would leave them below subsistence level, so even modest adjustments affect what courts can realistically order. If you negotiated or received a support order in 2024 or early 2025 and your income sits near the prior caps, it’s worth reviewing whether the new thresholds shift the formula-calculated baseline for your obligation or entitlement. Cases at the margins are the ones most likely to be affected.
Automatic Orders Now Run Until Judgment, with a New Notice Duty
Automatic orders under DRL 236(B)(2)(b) are court-imposed restraints that take effect the moment a divorce action is commenced. They prohibit both spouses from transferring, selling, or encumbering marital assets without the other’s consent or a court order. Chapter 535 of the Laws of 2025 amended this section to clarify that these restraints remain in force until the Judgment of Divorce is actually entered, eliminating a previous ambiguity about whether they lapsed after trial but before the judgment was filed.
The amendment also added a new paragraph (6) with a specific, enforceable obligation: any party who receives notice of a tax lien, foreclosure, bankruptcy filing, or litigation that could adversely affect the marital estate must notify the other spouse within 10 days. This isn’t discretionary. Failure to comply can constitute contempt of court. For anyone in a pending divorce where the marital home, a business, or other significant asset is involved, this duty requires active attention throughout the case.
Financial Disclosure Forms Overhauled for Contested Cases
Two separate changes to financial disclosure requirements took effect in late 2025 and early 2026, and together they significantly raise the burden on parties in contested cases.
Effective December 1, 2025, amendments to 22 NYCRR 202.16 replaced the prior narrative Statement of Proposed Disposition with a mandatory Excel spreadsheet. Parties must now specify, line by line, their proposed resolution of every financial issue: equitable distribution of each asset and debt, maintenance amount and duration, child support, counsel fees, and expert costs. There’s no room for general positions or ranges. The court expects a fully itemized proposal, and incomplete or internally inconsistent spreadsheets can damage credibility and undercut negotiating leverage, particularly in cases involving business interests, retirement accounts, or real property with disputed valuations.
Separately, Chapter 564 of the Laws of 2025 revised the Net Worth Statement format, effective January 1, 2026. The revised form permits affirmations in place of notarization for most sworn statements. The exception: matrimonial agreements still require notarization under DRL 236(B)(3). That distinction matters for anyone signing a stipulation or property settlement agreement as part of the case.
What These Changes Mean If You’re Filing or Have a Pending Case in the Bronx
Taken together, a Bronx divorce case initiated in 2026 looks materially different from one filed in 2024. The timeline is shorter for those using the separation ground. The financial disclosure process is more demanding. The automatic orders carry a new affirmative notice duty. And the income caps that determine support calculations have shifted. Several of these changes apply to pending actions, not just new filings. The automatic orders amendment and the revised disclosure requirements don’t wait for a fresh filing. If you’re currently in a divorce proceeding, it’s worth confirming that your existing disclosures and strategy account for what changed.
Relying on information that predates 2026 when making decisions about your case carries real risk. The statutory and procedural landscape has shifted quickly, and not all of it gets covered in general-purpose legal summaries. Jayson Lutzky serves both English and Spanish-speaking clients throughout the Bronx, offers free consultations, and can evaluate how these specific changes apply to your circumstances. Call us at (718) 550-2881.