A recent New York decision marks a significant, and in many ways historic, victory for domestic violence advocates and survivors navigating divorce. The case is N.S. v T.S., out of Nassau County Supreme Court (Dec. 2025). The court made clear that abuse within a marriage, including the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), can carry serious financial consequences under New York’s Equitable Distribution law, the statute that governs how marital property is divided. That statute was amended in 2020 to expressly include domestic violence as a factor courts may consider when distributing marital assets. This case shows just how powerful that amendment can be.

The Remedy Is What Makes This Historic

The headline is not just the finding, it’s the result. The court awarded the wife 100% of the marital estate based on the domestic violence she endured. While the wife testified to additional acts of physical abuse, the court’s recognition that the husband’s transmission of STIs constituted domestic violence under the amended Equitable Distribution statute is particularly notable. The decision makes clear that intimate partner abuse, especially conduct with lasting medical consequences, is not economically neutral in divorce.

Isn’t This Already Considered “Cruel and Inhuman Treatment”?

It’s important to add some context. This is not the first time STI transmission has been treated as abusive conduct in a matrimonial case. Under New York’s traditional fault grounds for divorce, “cruel and inhuman treatment” has long encompassed conduct such as knowingly transmitting an STI. A fault finding could, in turn, influence financial outcomes.

But here’s the critical distinction: this appears to be one of the first times that such transmission has been explicitly recognized as domestic violence under the 2020 amendment to the Equitable Distribution statute itself, directly affecting how property is divided.

The Power of the 2020 Amendment

Before 2020, domestic violence did not have the same statutory weight in property division. Now, it is expressly written into the law. Even more importantly, the amendment allows a spouse to:

• Proceed on no-fault grounds (irretrievable breakdown of the marriage), and
• Still argue for an unequal distribution of assets based on domestic violence.

That is a powerful shift. It separates the need to prove fault to obtain a divorce from the ability to have abusive conduct meaningfully considered in the financial outcome. Survivors no longer have to choose between avoiding a protracted fault trial and seeking economic justice.

Why This Matters

Divorce is not just about ending a marriage, but about untangling finances and determining what is fair. This decision reinforces a simple but profound principle: abuse has consequences.

When a spouse’s conduct causes physical harm, emotional trauma, or lifelong medical implications, the court can consider that reality when dividing assets. Domestic violence is not limited to custody determinations or protection orders. It can directly affect the financial structure of a divorce.

For victims of domestic violence, this ruling represents meaningful validation. For practitioners who work with survivors, it provides a clearer statutory pathway to argue for economic accountability. And for the legal community, it signals that New York courts are willing to use the tools provided by the 2020 amendment in a real and substantive way.

Abuse within a marriage is not a private matter without consequence. Under New York law, it can now shape the financial outcome of a divorce in the most significant way possible.

If you’d like to read the full decision, it is available here:
https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/other-courts/2025/2025-ny-slip-op-51897-u.html

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