Wyo. Cnty. Dep't of Soc. Servs. ex rel. Murray v. Kates

• Citation: 154 N.Y.S.3d 515 (Mem),199 A.D.3d 1369
• Decision Date: 12 November 2021
• Docket Number: 822,CAF 20-00274
• Parties: In the Matter of WYOMING COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, ON BEHALF OF Doris I. MURRAY, Petitioner-Respondent, v. Hulbert F. KATES, III, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court Appellate Division

199 A.D.3d 1369
154 N.Y.S.3d 515 (Mem)

In the Matter of WYOMING COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, ON BEHALF OF Doris I. MURRAY, Petitioner-Respondent,
v.
Hulbert F. KATES, III, Respondent-Appellant.

822
CAF 20-00274

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York.

Entered: November 12, 2021

KELIANN M. ARGY, ORCHARD PARK, FOR RESPONDENT-APPELLANT.

JAMES M. WUJCIK, COUNTY ATTORNEY, ATTICA (JANET L. BENSMAN OF COUNSEL), FOR PETITIONER-RESPONDENT.

PRESENT: SMITH, J.P., CARNI, NEMOYER, TROUTMAN, AND WINSLOW, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.

Memorandum: In this proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 4, respondent father appeals from an order that, inter alia, effectively confirmed the determination

154 N.Y.S.3d 516

of the Support Magistrate that the father willfully violated a prior order of child support.

Because the father failed to submit written objections to the order of the Support Magistrate, his challenges to the determinations of the Support Magistrate are not properly preserved (see Family Ct Act § 439 [e] ; see also Matter of Farruggia v. Farruggia , 125 A.D.3d 1490, 1490, 3 N.Y.S.3d 859 [4th Dept. 2015] ; Matter of White v. Knapp , 66 A.D.3d 1358, 1359, 886 N.Y.S.2d 527 [4th Dept. 2009] ). In any event, we reject the contention of the father that the Support Magistrate erred in imputing income to him for the purpose of calculating his child support obligation. It is well settled that a support magistrate has " ‘considerable discretion to ... impute an annual income to a parent’ " ( Lauzonis v. Lauzonis , 105 A.D.3d 1351, 1351, 964 N.Y.S.2d 796 [4th Dept. 2013] ; see Matter of Bashir v. Brunner , 169 A.D.3d 1382, 1383, 93 N.Y.S.3d 481 [4th Dept. 2019] ). Furthermore, "[c]hild support is determined by the parents’ ability to provide for their child rather than their current economic situation" ( Irene v. Irene [Appeal No. 2], 41 A.D.3d 1179, 1180, 837 N.Y.S.2d 797 [4th Dept. 2007] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Bashir , 169 A.D.3d at 1383, ...