SCHEK v. SCHEK (2008)

In an action for a divorce and ancillary relief, the plaintiff husband appeals from a money judgment of the Supreme Court, Dutchess County (Sproat, J.), dated January 24, 2007, which, upon a decision of the same court dated January 5, 2007, awarded the defendant wife an attorney's fee in the sum of $60,000.

ORDERED that the money judgment is affirmed, with costs.

 The award of a reasonable attorney's fee is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court (see Domestic Relations Law § 237 [a];  DeCabrera v. Cabrera-Rosete, 70 N.Y.2d 879, 524 N.Y.S.2d 176, 518 N.E.2d 1168).   An award of an attorney's fee should be based upon, inter alia, the relative financial circumstances of the parties, the relative merits of their positions, and the tactics of a party in unnecessarily prolonging the litigation (see Domestic Relations Law § 237[a];  DeCabrera v. Cabrera-Rosete, 70 N.Y.2d at 881, 524 N.Y.S.2d 176, 518 N.E.2d 1168;  Levy v. Levy, 4 A.D.3d 398, 398-399, 771 N.Y.S.2d 386;  Krutyansky v. Krutyansky, 289 A.D.2d 299, 300, 733 N.Y.S.2d 920;  Morrissey v. Morrissey, 259 A.D.2d 472, 473, 686 N.Y.S.2d 71).   The fact that the defendant wife has assets is not, by itself, a basis to deny a motion for an attorney's fee, as she “need not establish indigency as a prerequisite to an award of counsel fees” (Lenczycki v. Lenczycki, 152 A.D.2d 621, 624-625, 543 N.Y.S.2d 724).

 In view of the disparity between the incomes and resources of the parties (see Levy v. Levy, 4 A.D.3d 398, 771 N.Y.S.2d 386), and the difficulties encountered in obtaining paper discovery from the plaintiff (cf. Griggs v. Griggs, 44 A.D.3d 710, 714, 844 N.Y.S.2d 351), the court providently exercised its discretion in awarding the defendant an attorney's fee in the sum of $60,000.