New York Law Journal, October 29, 2026 —
Divorce lawyers regularly file “affirmations” in support of motions. Certifying the accuracy of the contents of a divorcing spouse’s “Statement of Net Worth” is also part of the ordinary course of being a divorce lawyer. The responsibility, from an ethical standpoint, that the divorce lawyer takes on when he or she performs these tasks is immense and fraught with peril.
That brings us to the decision of Judge William A. Viscovich in A.K. v. K.Y. (Sup. Ct., Queens County August 2026). In A.K., the plaintiff-wife filed a motion seeking, inter alia, an award of pendente lite maintenance. Seems simple enough, at first blush.
Allow me to direct your attention to the opening portion of the decision, which reads as follows:
Here, this Court finds itself with two individuals who represented to the federal government on their 2024 joint tax returns that they collectively made $30,707.00. Yet, on the plaintiff-wife’s statement of net worth she claims that her monthly expenses are approximately $7,500. The defendant-husband on his statement of net worth claims his monthly expenses are approximately $21,002.36…
Some of this may be the result of both of them claiming the same expenses, but even if that were the case across the board, their monthly expenses would still be $14,256.38 or $171,075.56 annually on a joint income, as previously stated of $30,707.00, before taxes. Enough said. (emphasis added).
The wife’s motion, as described by the court, was to “award her maintenance on the purported actual financial situation of the parties rather than that which she herself reported to the Internal Revenue Service. In other words, she wants this court to make sure that she receives her share of unreported income.”
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