Highlights

• Amending DRL § 170 to add a new no-fault ground for divorce - irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.

• Amending DRL §§ 237 and 238 to create a new rebuttable presumption favoring interim counsel fee and expert expense awards.
• A new subdivision 5-a is added to DRL § 236(B) setting forth a 'formula' for determining pendente lite maintenance awards.  This formulaic approach incorporates numerous concepts of the CSSA and imposes a presumptive calculation based purely on income variance unanchored do the concept of reasonable needs - i.e., a redistribution of wealth.  The formula is rather convoluted and applies to Payor income up to $ 500,000.00.  For income above that level, a litany of 19 statutory factors is set forth to guide the court.  Deviation from the formula is controlled by another separate list of 17 factors.
• DRL § 236(B)(6)has been amended to add new statutory factors for determining 'post-divorce maintenance', bringing the total number of factors from the present 12 to 20.
• The various provisions have different effective dates ranging from immediate to 120 days from signing.