Father to Pay Child Support but Mothers Application For Spousal Maintenance Was Denied

father's rights attorneysSupreme Court Justice, Pam Jackman Brown, sitting in Queens County Supreme Court recently dealt with a case involving conflicting stories concerning the respective parents’ incomes. The father had brought a divorce proceeding. The wife asked for spousal maintenance and child support. She alleged that her husband’s annual income was $350,000 a year. The father stated he only made $39,000 the year. The wife also claimed that she had not worked since 2010. Her credibility was taken into question when it was disclosed that her 2010 tax return showed that she earned $39,000 a year. Judge Pam Jackman Brown found that their respective statements concerning their earnings to be incredulous. She found imputed income to the father of approximately $170,000. She based this on the fact that he had $14,000 a month in expenses. The court noted that although the basic child support obligation would normally be $26,000, due to the high standard of living that the parties had during the marriage she awarded the wife $42,000 in child support.

Instead of giving the wife a spousal maintenance award pendente lite (during the pendency on the marriage), the court declined to give the wife maintenance because the husband had agreed to pay all the carrying charges to the marital residence. The court held that the carrying charges of the marital residence exceeded the presumptive temporary maintenance award.father's rights advocate

About Elliot S. Schlissel

Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq. has spent more that 45 years representing individuals in matrimonial and family law cases.