In Pugh v. Pugh, 125 AD3d 663 [2nd Dept. 2015] the Appellate Division, Second Department, recently held that the mother was forced to litigate the case as a pro se litigant because she was unable to retain a lawyer after many adjournments and delays in the court proceedings. Additionally, the Appellate Division found that a "waiver of the right to counsel must be founded on an explicit and intentional relinquishment which is supported by knowledge and a clear understanding of the right. In order to determine whether a party is validly waiving the right to counsel, the court must conduct a searching inquiry of the party who wishes to waive that right and thus proceed pro se." (Id.) The Appellate Division did not state that a strict formula must be followed to arrive at this conclusion, but the record must show that the party knew of "the dangers and disadvantages of proceeding without counsel." (Id.) The Appellate Division further stated that "given the mother's statements indicating that she lacked the funds to retain private counsel, the Family Court should have inquired further into the mother's financial circumstances, including, but not limited to, inquiring about her expenses, to determine whether she was eligible for assigned counsel." (Id.)