Opinion
October 20, 1986
Appeal from the Family Court, Westchester County (Kaiser, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The petitioner husband contends that the Family Court erred in directing him to pay the respondent wife $3,000 in counsel fees. We disagree. Whether counsel fees should be awarded is a matter for the discretion of the court (see, Domestic Relations Law § 238; Resslhuber v Resslhuber, 57 A.D.2d 552). Viewing the totality of the circumstances, including the petitioner's superior present income, the court properly exercised its discretion in awarding the respondent wife $3,000 in counsel fees. Contrary to the petitioner's contentions, a spouse need not establish indigency as a prerequisite to the recovery of a counsel fee (see, McCann v Guterl, 100 A.D.2d 577), nor does her advancement of a fee to her attorney present an impediment to reimbursement where the court later finds that her spouse should have paid the fee (see, Ross v Ross, 90 A.D.2d 541, 542; Silver v Silver, 63 A.D.2d 1017). Mangano, J.P., Brown, Rubin and Spatt, JJ., concur.