Opinion
2002-00784
Submitted January 24, 2003.
February 18, 2003.
In an action for a divorce and ancillary relief, the defendant appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Blydenburgh, J.), dated December 27, 2001, as granted that branch of the plaintiff's cross motion which was for an award of an attorney's fee, and directed him to pay the plaintiff an attorney's fee in the sum of $23,157.28.
Shlimbaum and Shlimbaum, Islip, N.Y. (Janet M. Philips of counsel), for appellant.
Twomey, Latham, Shea Kelley, LLP, Riverhead, N.Y. (Peter M. Mott and Martin D. Finnegan of counsel), for respondent.
Before: SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, J.P., GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, LEO F. McGINITY, WILLIAM F. MASTRO, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with costs, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for a hearing on the issue of an award of an attorney's fee, if any, to the plaintiff.
The Supreme Court erred in awarding the plaintiff an attorney's fee in the sum of $23,157.28 without first conducting an evidentiary hearing. Under the circumstances of this case, a hearing was necessary both to explore the relative financial circumstances of the parties (see Kiprilova v. Kiprilov, 255 A.D.2d 362), and to afford the defendant a "meaningful way of testing the [attorney's] claims relative to time and value" (Price v. Price, 113 A.D.2d 299, affd 69 N.Y.2d 8; see also Green v. Green, 288 A.D.2d 436; Nee v. Nee, 240 A.D.2d 478; Popack v. Popack, 179 A.D.2d 746).
FEUERSTEIN, J.P., KRAUSMAN, McGINITY and MASTRO, JJ., concur.