Opinion
March 16, 1987
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Morrison, J.).
Ordered that the appeal and cross appeal from the order dated October 30, 1985 are dismissed, without costs or disbursements, as that order was superseded by the order dated February 28, 1986, made upon reargument and renewal; and it is further,
Ordered that the order dated February 28, 1986 is modified, on the law, by deleting the provision thereof which adhered to the original determination that the payment of temporary maintenance be effective five days after the date of service of the order dated October 30, 1985, and substituting therefor a provision that the award of temporary maintenance be effective as of July 31, 1985, the date of service of the application therefor, and the order dated October 30, 1985 is modified accordingly. As so modified, the order dated February 28, 1986 is affirmed insofar as appealed from and reviewed, without costs or disbursements.
We find that the temporary awards of $125 per week to the plaintiff for her maintenance and $2,500 in counsel fees are reasonable in light of the relative financial circumstances of the parties (see, Van Ess v. Van Ess, 100 A.D.2d 848; Palmer v Palmer, 76 A.D.2d 905). The court erred, however, in failing to make the temporary maintenance award retroactive to the date of the plaintiff's application. Domestic Relations Law § 236 (B) (6) (a) provides, in part, that "in any matrimonial action the court may order temporary maintenance * * * Such order shall be effective as of the date of the application therefor" (emphasis added). Consequently, the statutory language requires the court to make its order effective as of July 31, 1985, the date of service of the application.
We have considered the remainder of the parties' contentions and find them to be without merit. Mangano, J.P., Brown, Niehoff and Eiber, JJ., concur.