DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is modified, on the law and as an exercise of discretion, by deleting the provision thereof awarding the plaintiff an attorney's fee in the sum of $2,000; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
Contrary to the defendant's contention, the Judicial Hearing Officer had the authority to issue the judgment of divorce, since an order of reference designating her to hear and determine all issues was made upon consent of the parties ( see CPLR 4317[a]; Perrelli v. Perrelli, 284 A.D.2d 517).
While the parties agreed to joint custody, the plaintiff is the custodial parent within the meaning of Bast v. Rossof ( 91 N.Y.2d 723), and was properly awarded child support from the defendant. Further, we reject the defendant's argument that his child support obligation should be proportionally offset by the amount of time the children spend with him ( see Bast v. Rossof, supra at 730-732).
However, the Supreme Court improvidently awarded the plaintiff an attorney's fee in the sum of $2,000, as the equities of this case dictate that each party pay his or her own attorney's fee ( see Matter of Mullen v. Just, 288 A.D.2d 476, 477, lv denied 97 N.Y.2d 613, cert denied 537 U.S. 820).
The defendant's remaining contentions either are unpreserved for appellate review or without merit.
FLORIO, J.P., SMITH, LUCIANO and RIVERA, JJ., concur.