From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

McCaffrey v. McCaffrey

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 5, 2010
69 A.D.3d 585 (N.Y. App. Div. 2010)

Opinion

No. 2008-05389.

January 5, 2010.

In an action for a divorce and ancillary relief, the plaintiff appeals, as limited by her brief, from stated portions of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Tolbert, J.), dated March 19, 2008, which, upon a decision of the same court dated September 28, 2007, made after a nonjury trial, inter alia, awarded her a share of only one of the defendant's pensions.

Kevin T. Mulhearn, P.C., Orangeburg, N.Y. (Joseph J. Artrip of counsel), for appellant.

Paul T. Gentile, P.C., New York, N.Y. (Lisa Solomon of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Covello, J.P., Angiolillo, Lott and Roman, JJ., concur.


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

The plaintiffs argument that the court failed to adequately advise her of her right to counsel, and that she did not knowingly and intelligently waive her right to counsel in this action, is without merit since she had no right to counsel in the action ( see Matter of Smiley, 36 NY2d 433; Merkle v Merkle, 186 AD2d 67, 68).

The plaintiff alleged that the defendant has two pensions and contends that the trial court erred in awarding her a share of only one of the two pensions. We disagree. "In a nonjury trial, evaluating the credibility of the respective witnesses and determining which of the proffered items of evidence are most credible are matters committed to the trial court's sound discretion" ( Wasserman v Wasserman, 66 AD3d 880, 882). Here, the defendant testified that he had one pension. The plaintiff claimed, without any documentary proof, that the defendant had two pensions. The plaintiffs statement was insufficient to prove that the defendant had more than one pension, and the court was not required to accept her statement as conclusive proof that the defendant had more than one pension.

The plaintiffs remaining contention is without merit.


Summaries of

McCaffrey v. McCaffrey

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 5, 2010
69 A.D.3d 585 (N.Y. App. Div. 2010)
Case details for

McCaffrey v. McCaffrey

Case Details

Full title:SILVIA O. McCAFFREY, Appellant, v. DENNIS McCAFFREY, Respondent

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Jan 5, 2010

Citations

69 A.D.3d 585 (N.Y. App. Div. 2010)
2010 N.Y. Slip Op. 114
892 N.Y.S.2d 184

Citing Cases

Bouffard v. Befese

That court looks beyond the terms of the instrument to the real transaction; and when that is shown to be one…

Jozefik v. Jozefik

Although it appears that plaintiff's attorney did not in fact testify at the second trial, the express…