Opinion
April 29, 1993
Appeal from the Family Court, New York County (Judith Sheindlin, J.).
Petitioner failed to rebut the presumption that the standard of support calculated pursuant to Family Court Act § 413 (1) (c) was reasonable and appropriate (see, Matter of Steuben County Dept. of Social Servs. v James, 171 A.D.2d 1023). In a trial that hinged almost entirely upon credibility, due to petitioner's failure to provide documentation of her income from a cash-based profession, the Hearing Examiner was in the best position to evaluate the evidence and assess credibility (see, Matter of Masten v Masten, 150 A.D.2d 693, lv denied 74 N.Y.2d 611; Matter of Miller v Davis, 176 A.D.2d 945), and her findings, including that imputing income to petitioner in an amount exceeding that reported in the only Federal tax return she ever filed (see, Family Ct Act § 413 [b] [5] [i]), in the midst of the instant proceeding, are entitled to great deference (see, Creem v Creem, 121 A.D.2d 676, 677). There was no proof that respondent reduced his resources or income in order to reduce or avoid his child support obligation (see, Family Ct Act § 413 [b] [5] [v]; Matter of Monroe County Dept. of Social Servs. v Bennett, 178 A.D.2d 974), and while it is not clear whether the court considered respondent's earning capacity, rather than his actual earnings (see, Sayer v Sayer, 130 A.D.2d 407, 410), no proof of such capacity was, in any event, adduced. The denial of child care expenses was reasonably based upon a determination that they were either incurred primarily to allow petitioner to do unpaid volunteer work, which does not qualify as a reimbursable support expense (see, Family Ct Act § 413 [c] [4]), or paid for by petitioner's husband (see, Matter of Boden v Leccese, 83 A.D.2d 636).
Finally, there is no support in the record for petitioner's assertion that the Hearing Examiner was biased.
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Carro, Milonas, Kupferman and Ross, JJ.