CRONIN v. CRONIN

Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements, and that branch of the plaintiff's motion which was for an award of counsel fees is referred to the trial court.

With respect to the wife's claim for counsel fees pendente lite, we find that the wife established her financial inability to pay (see, Domestic Relations Law § 237; Ahern v Ahern, 94 A.D.2d 53; Palmer v Palmer, 76 A.D.2d 905). However, we find that the award of $20,000 was unwarranted because the wife's counsel failed to provide adequate documentation regarding the services rendered. While counsel's affirmation did set forth certain services performed on the wife's behalf, the handwritten time records provided were, for the most part, illegible (see, Goodson v Goodson, 135 A.D.2d 604; Baecher v Baecher, 80 A.D.2d 629).

Therefore, the matter is referred to the trial court for the purposes of determining the value of the necessary services rendered. Mangano, J.P., Kunzeman, Eiber and Kooper, JJ., concur.