Matter of G.A. v. E.P.

2007 NY Slip Op 51920(U)
CourtNew York Family Court, Onondaga County
DecidedOctober 4, 2007
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2007 NY Slip Op 51920(U) (Matter of G.A. v. E.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Family Court, Onondaga County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of G.A. v. E.P., 2007 NY Slip Op 51920(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2007).

Opinion

Matter of G.A. v E.P. (2007 NY Slip Op 51920(U)) [*1]
Matter of G.A. v E.P.
2007 NY Slip Op 51920(U) [17 Misc 3d 1111(A)]
Decided on October 4, 2007
Family Court, Onondaga County
Hanuszczak, J.
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.


Decided on October 4, 2007
Family Court, Onondaga County


In the Matter of G.A., Petitioner

against

E.P., Respondent




F-06663-02/06G

Lawrence P. Brown, Esq. for petitioner; Vincent J. Finocchio, Esq., for respondent.

Michael L. Hanuszczak, J.



On June 12, 2007, the attorney for the petitioner filed an Objection to the Decision/Order, filed and entered on May 8, 2007 in which the petitioner's application for an upward modification of the current support order was dismissed with prejudice. An Affidavit of Service has been filed with the Court, indicating proper service of the Objection upon the attorney for the respondent. On September 9, 2007, the petitioner transmitted a facsimile to the Court which was not considered by the Court as it was an ex parte communication and also as there is no provision in the Family Court Act for submissions after an objection has been filed.

After a review of the Objection, the case file, and the audio recording of the support hearing, the Court issued an Interim Order on July 6, 2007 and remanded the matter to the Support Magistrate for the limited purpose of hearing the following testimony and proofs:

1.The birth dates and ages of the children for whom the respondent pays child support under a previous court order;

2.A copy of a valid court order, and any separation agreement upon which the order is based, requiring the respondent to pay child support.

3.Competent proof that the respondent pays child support in accordance with the aforesaid order.

4.A copy of the respondent's 2006 New York State tax return.

5.Competent proof on whether the respondent owns his residence at [redacted], New York and competent proof that the respondent makes any payments for rent/mortgage on that residence or receives any income from said residence.

The remand hearing was conducted on September 6, 2007, and this Court has reviewed the audiotape of that hearing and the documents which were introduced by the attorney for the [*2]respondent and marked as Interim Order Exhibits by the Support Magistrate.

BACKGROUND

On November 3, 2006, the petitioner filed a petition seeking modification of the order of support dated October 28, 2003 which directed the respondent to pay the sum of $103.00 per week to the petitioner through the Onondaga County Support Collection Unit for the support of P.G., date of birth [redacted] 1995. The support order, which was stipulated to by the parties, stated that the basic child support obligation was $75.00 per week with the mother's pro rata share being $12.00 per week and the father's pro rata share being $63.00 per week. The parties agreed that the father's support obligation would be $103.00 per week as the mother paid for child care. The parties agreed that the father was to provide the mother with a job search log and pay stub every sixty days commencing December 1, 2003 and the mother was to provide the father with child care receipts every sixty days commencing December 1, 2003. The order further provided that the mother could apply for a modification without alleging a change in circumstances other than a change in the father's income.Appendix A, which was attached to and made a part of the support order, contained the following Findings of Fact: (1) the mother is employed on a part-time basis earning $13,000.00 per year at an hourly wage of between $5.00 and $10.00 per hour; (2) the father is employed full time and his income has decreased from $74,000.00 per year to the current amount of $20,800.00 per year or $400.00 per week plus some overtime; (3) the parties are not in agreement as to the cause of the father's decrease in income but they stipulated for the purpose of the order that the father's annual income will be imputed at $35,000.00 per year; (4) the presumptively correct amount of support to be paid by the father is $63.00 per week plus a share of the child care expenses, taking into consideration the father's order of support of $252.00 per week for children of another relationship; (5) the parties agreed that the father shall pay the amount of $103.00 per week for child support, which includes child care expenses during the school year of $40.00 per week; (6) the father's pro rata share of health insurance and uncovered health care expenditures is 62% based upon an annual income $19,218.50 and the mother's share is 38% based upon an annual income of $12,005.24.

SUMMARY OF TESTIMONY

The attorney for the petitioner called an individual for the purpose of providing expert testimony regarding the respondent's earning capacity. The witness testified that he is a forensic economist with an undergraduate degree in economics, a master's degree in business administration, and a law degree. He provided credentials showing that he has been employed as an economic consultant since 1986, has been qualified as an expert witness by other courts, and has provided personnel evaluation testimony in thirty-three other court appearances since 1994. The witness stated that he is a member of the National Association of Forensic Economists and has presented a number of papers at the annual Eastern Economic conventions. The Support Magistrate allowed the witness' testimony but reserved the decision on his qualifications and the weight to be assigned to his testimony. An Exhibit List prepared by the Support Magistrate indicates that she did not receive his prepared exhibits into evidence.

The witness testified that, in preparation for his testimony, he reviewed materials provided to him from the attorneys including the transcript of the examination before trial (EBT), the petition, the support order, the respondent's financial affidavit, and the respondent's income tax returns for the years 2002 through 2006. He testified that he used this material and references for Central New York and for Maine provided by the U.S. Department of Labor to [*3]chart the respondent's range of earnings. He stated that he looked at earnings for the jobs titled pipefitter and construction foreman based upon the respondent's descriptions of his work as contained on the income tax returns and in the EBT. The attorney for the respondent objected to the respondent's job being described as a pipefitter, but the attorney for the petitioner read from a portion of the transcript of the respondent's deposition in which the respondent stated that there is no difference between a pipefitter and a pipeliner. The Support Magistrate overruled the objection. In a later ruling, the Support Magistrate stated that the respondent is not a construction foreman.

The witness testified that the respondent's tax returns indicate that he had earnings of $74,000.00 when he was employed by the L.

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2007 NY Slip Op 51920(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-ga-v-ep-nyfamctonond-2007.