| Matter of Beren v Beren |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 00955 [92 AD3d 676] |
| February 7, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| In the Matter of Rebecca Beren, Respondent, v Avi Beren,Appellant. |
—[*1] Lynn J. Brustein-Kampel, New City, N.Y., for respondent.
In related proceedings, inter alia, pursuant to Family Court Act article 6, the father appeals,as limited by his brief, (1) from so much of an order of the Family Court, Rockland County(Warren, J.), dated December 9, 2010, as granted that branch of the mother's motion which wasfor leave to renew her prior motion for an award of an attorney's fee, which had been denied in aprior order of the same court dated July 14, 2010, and, upon renewal, in effect, vacated so muchof the order dated July 14, 2010, as denied the mother's motion and thereupon granted her motionto the extent of directing him to pay the mother $25,000, and (2) from so much of an order of thesame court dated April 13, 2011, as granted the mother's separate motion for an award of anattorney's fee to the extent of directing him to pay the mother $10,000.
Ordered that the orders dated December 9, 2010, and April 13, 2011, are affirmed insofar asappealed from, with one bill of costs.
Contrary to the father's contention, the Family Court did not improvidently exercise itsdiscretion in granting that branch of the mother's motion which was for leave to renew her priormotion for an award of an attorney's fee in connection with the court's determination as tocustody and visitation. The mother's excuse of law office failure for not including a statement ofnet worth with her initial moving papers was reasonable under the circumstances (see 22NYCRR 202.16 [k] [5]; Vita v Alstom Signaling, 308 AD2d 582, 583 [2003]). "'Although a motion for leave to renew generally must be based on newly-discovered facts, thisrequirement is a flexible one, and a court has the discretion to grant renewal upon facts known tothe movant at the time of the original motion, provided that the movant offers a reasonablejustification for the failure to submit the additional facts on the original motion' " (Smith v State of New York, 71 AD3d866, 867-868 [2010], quoting Matter of Allstate Ins. Co. v Liberty Mut. Ins., 58 AD3d 727, 728[2009]). Upon renewal, considering all the circumstances of this case, the Family Courtprovidently exercised its discretion in granting the mother's motion for an award of an attorney'sfee to the extent of directing the father to pay her $25,000 (see Matter of Talty v Talty, 75 AD3d 648, 650 [2010]).
Further, in light of the father's conduct in unnecessarily engaging in certain litigation [*2]related to the children, the Family Court providently exercised itsdiscretion in granting the mother's separate motion for an award of an attorney's fee to the extentof directing the father to pay her $10,000 (see Chamberlain v Chamberlain, 24 AD3d 589, 594 [2005]; Matter of O'Shea v Parker, 16 AD3d510 [2005]; Matter of Dowd v White, 155 AD2d 459 [1989]).
The father's remaining contentions either are without merit or are not properly before thisCourt. Rivera, J.P., Dickerson, Chambers and Austin, JJ., concur.