Carney v. Carney

OPINION OF THE COURT

Richard A. Bollinger, J.

In this instance, this court considers an issue of apparent first impression in New York. Can the court, in deciding whether to appoint counsel for an allegedly indigent father in a custody matter, impute income to that applicant consistent with his acknowledged skills and employment capability? The answer to this question submerges the court into the nooks and crannies of constitutional rights, the system of evaluating indigence under state law, long-standing public policies concerning the allocation of scarce resources available from the public…