In a recent decision, the trial court stated 10 separate times that "the defendant was generally not credible." The judge emphasized that "[t]he record was plagued by his lack of credibility and feigned forgetfulness."

Is lying a frequent occurrence in divorce and custody actions? A google search of the term "lying in divorce actions" turned up eight law firm websites with pages about spouses lying in divorce actions and custody proceedings. One site tells its readers that "[o]ften, spouses lie to seek an edge in a contested divorce. Maybe they want more time with the children or more spousal support than they should have. Lying about finances is also fairly common. … A lying spouse might fail to disclose assets, discount the value of assets, fail to report self-employed income, or exaggerate expenses. … Spouses sometimes lie about you to gain an edge in a child custody battle. They might claim you have a drug or alcohol addiction or are mentally ill. These are serious accusations meant to persuade the judge to not give you custody. See "What To Do When Your Spouse Lies During Your Divorce" on the Barbara Flum Stein & Associates website. In this article we discuss methods of impeaching the credibility of a lying witness.

The credibility of the witnesses is an inquiry within the province of the trial court. Viles v. Viles, 14 N.Y.2d 365 (1964). Since the trial court has the opportunity to view the demeanor of the witnesses at the trial, it is in the best position to gauge their credibility, and its resolution of credibility issues is entitled to great deference on appeal. Schwartz v. Schwartz, 186 A.D.3d 1742 (2d Dep't 2020). In Kerley v. Kerley, 131 A.D.3d 1124 (2d Dept. 2015) the Supreme Court found the defendant's testimony to be "devoid of any credibility, unsupportable, and utterly unreliable." The Appellate Division affirmed, stating that the assessment of credibility is a matter committed to the trial court's sound discretion and deference is owed to the trial court's credibility determinations.