New Yorkers will soon be able to take a faster path to divorce.

Gov. David Paterson has signed into law a bill allowing no-fault divorce. New York is the last state in the country to offer such an option to end a marriage.

Current law stipulates that a divorce can be granted if the husband and wife live apart for at least a year under terms of a separation agreement and then return to court to convert the agreement into a divorce.

The only alternative is for one spouse to blame the other for circumstances such as cruelty and inhuman treatment, adultery, abandonment or imprisonment. Those options will remain intact after the new law takes effect in two months.

It grants a divorce if one spouse states under oath that the marriage has been "irretrievably broken" for at least six months. The court will not be required to assign blame to one spouse or the other.

That avenue will be quicker and cheaper than the court battles that go on currently, supporters said. The state Legislature approved the bill earlier this summer.

"Finally, New York has brought its divorce laws into the 21st century," Paterson said.

The New York State Bar Association was among supporters of the change. Opponents included Catholic bishops and the state chapter of the National Organization for Women.