Opinion
Submitted January 18, 2001.
April 5, 2001.
In a matrimonial action in which the parties were divorced by judgment entered October 15, 1998, the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Warshawsky, J.), dated August 6, 1999, which directed him to pay the plaintiff an attorney's fee in the sum of $50,000 and to pay 60% of the outstanding expert fees.
Sawyer, Davis, Halpern Demetri, Mineola, N.Y. (Jay Davis and Jill Altarac of counsel), for appellant.
Barrocas Rieger, LLP, Garden City, N.Y. (Sol Barrocas and Lloyd C. Rosen of counsel), for respondent.
Before: LAWRENCE J. BRACKEN, P.J., GLORIA GOLDSTEIN, HOWARD MILLER, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The issue of counsel fees is controlled by the equities and circumstances of each particular case (see, Basile v. Basile, 122 A.D.2d 759), and the court must consider the respective financial positions of the parties in determining whether an award is appropriate (see, Borakove v. Borakove, 116 A.D.2d 683). The fact that the plaintiff has assets is not, by itself, a basis to deny a request for counsel fees, as she "need not establish indigency as a prerequisite to an award of counsel fees" (Lenczycki v. Lenczycki, 152 A.D.2d 621). In view of the disparity in the income and resources of the parties (see, Denholz v. Denholz, 147 A.D.2d 522), the court providently exercised its discretion in directing the defendant to pay an attorney's fee in the sum of $50,000.
The defendant's remaining contention is without merit.