Mother Not Given Sufficient Opportunity to Substantiate Her Income
In finding Family Court did not have a sufficient basis to determine the mother failed to substantiate her income in a child support proceeding, the Second Department wrote:
The Support Magistrate improperly awarded child support based on the needs of the child rather than the mother’s income, upon concluding that the mother failed to substantiate her income (see Family Ct Act § 413[1][k]). The record reflects that, prior to the hearing at which the Support Magistrate issued the order, the mother had appeared before the Support Magistrate only twice and, on both occasions, the appearances were very brief. … Moreover, the Support Magistrate failed to advise the mother that her failure to fill out the financial disclosure affidavit would result in an award of support based on the child’s needs, instead of the mother’s income … . Accordingly, the matter must be remitted … for a new hearing on the petition and a new determination thereafter as to the mother’s support obligation. Matter of Anderson v Pappalardo, 2013 NY Slip Op 02745, 2nd Dept, 4-24-13