Matter of Graves v. Smith
| Decision Date | 11 May 2001 |
| Parties | (A.D. 2 Dept. 2001) In the Matter of Valerie Graves, respondent, v Jaha Smith, a/k/a Charles Smith, appellant. 2000-06366 : SECOND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT Submitted - |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Jaha Smith, New York, N.Y., appellant pro se.
GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, J.P., ANITA R. FLORIO, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, BARRY A. COZIER, JJ.
In a child support proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 4, the father appeals from an order of the Family Court, Kings County (Segal, J.), dated June 1, 2000, which denied his objections to an order of the same court (Clarke, H.E.), entered January 11, 2000, which, after a hearing, increased his child support obligation from a bi-weekly payment of $142 to a monthly payment of $578.84.
ORDERED that the order dated June 1, 2000, is reversed, on the law, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the Family Court, Kings County, for a new determination of the issue of child support in accordance herewith
The court erred in basing the amount of the child support obligation on the child's needs. There is no basis for the court's departure from the basic child support obligation as stated in Domestic Relations Law § 240(1-b) (see, Murphy-Artale v Artale, 219 A.D.2d 587). Where the father's 1998 reported income on his tax return was found to be suspect, the court was not bound by the actual reported income in applying the basic child support obligation, and instead could have used his actual earning capacity or imputed an amount onto the gross income reported in his tax return (see, Matter of Scomello v Scomello, 260 A.D.2d 483; Matter of Diamond v Diamond, 254 A.D.2d 288; Murphy-Artale v Artale, supra).
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