N.Y. DOM Law § 238

§ 238. Expenses in enforcement and modification proceedings. In any\naction or proceeding to enforce or modify any provision of a judgment or\norder entered in an action for divorce, separation, annulment,\ndeclaration of nullity of a void marriage, declaration of validity or\nnullity of a judgement of divorce rendered against a spouse who was the\ndefendant in any action outside the state of New York and did not appear\ntherein where such spouse asserts the nullity of such foreign judgment,\nor an injunction restraining the prosecution in any other jurisdiction\nof an action for a divorce, or in any proceeding pursuant to section two\nhundred forty-three, two hundred forty-four, two hundred forty-five, or\ntwo hundred forty-six of this article, the court may in its discretion\nrequire either party to pay counsel fees and fees and expenses of\nexperts directly to the attorney of the other party to enable the other\nparty to carry on or defend the action or proceeding as, in the court's\ndiscretion, justice requires having regard to the circumstances of the\ncase and of the respective parties. There shall be a rebuttable\npresumption that counsel fees shall be awarded to the less monied\nspouse. In any such action or proceeding, applications for fees and\nexpenses may be maintained by the attorney for the respective parties in\ncounsel's own name and in counsel's own behalf. In exercising the\ncourt's discretion, the court shall seek to assure that each party shall\nbe adequately represented and that where fees and expenses are to be\nawarded, they shall be awarded on a timely basis, pendente lite, so as\nto enable adequate representation from the commencement of the\nproceeding. Applications for the award of fees and expenses may be made\nat any time or times prior to final judgment. Both parties to the action\nor proceeding and their representative attorneys, shall file an\naffidavit with the court detailing the financial agreement between the\nparty and the attorney. Such affidavit shall include the amount of any\nretainer, the amounts paid and still owing thereunder, the hourly amount\ncharged by the attorney, the amounts paid, or to be paid, any experts,\nand any additional costs, disbursements or expenses. Payment of any\nretainer fees to the attorney for the petitioning party shall not\npreclude any awards of fees and expenses to an applicant which would\notherwise be allowed under this section.\n