Request for Order of Child Custody, Visitation, Spousal Support, Child Support
1 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA 2 COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 3 UNIFIED FAMILY COURT 4
5) 6 ABEBAYEHU GETACHEW FEKE,) Case Number: FDI-25-801531) 7 Petitioner) Hearing Date: August 4, 2026) 8 VS.) Hearing Time: 9:00 AM) 9 MEKDELAWIT NESSIBU MEKURIA,) Department: 404) 10 Respondent) Presiding: AI MORI) 11) 12 REQUEST FOR ORDER OF CHILD CUSTODY, VISITATION (PARENTING TIME), SPOUSAL OR 13 PARTNER SUPPORT, CHILD SUPPORT 14 TENTATIVE RULING 15 Having read and considered the pleadings, declarations, and other evidence submitted in this matter, the 16 Court makes the following findings and orders: 17 A.
Procedural History 18 1) Petitioner Abebayehu Feke (Father) and Respondent Mekdelawit Mekuria (Mother) married on 19 2/12/2009. The parties agree they separated on 8/1/2024, for a marriage of 15 years and 6 months. 20 The parties have one minor child, Blen (DOB: 9/6/2010, age 15). Both parties are self- 21 represented. 22 2) On for hearing is Mother’s Request for Order filed 4/20/2026 seeking custody and visitation 23 orders as well as guideline child support and temporary guideline spousal support retroactive to 24 the parties’ date of separation.
Mother states, “Our child has ongoing monthly needs, including 25 approximately $500 for food, $400 for school and activities, and $300 for other necessities. My 26 monthly rent is $2,338. I earn approximately $5,000 per month and have been covering the 27 majority of these expenses alone, which has caused financial hardship and increased debt.” 28 3) On 7/2/2026, a Child Custody and Visitation Stipulation and Order was entered which awards 29 Mother sole legal and sole physical custody of Blen.
The stipulation provides that Father will pick
1 up Blen every morning at 7:45 AM from Mother’s residence and drop her off at school and that 2 Father will pick up Blen from school every Monday and drop her off at her mother’s residence by 3 6 PM. The parties are to coordinate dates and times for Father’s visitation during weekends, 4 vacations, and holidays.
5 4) On 7/8/2026, Father filed an Income and Expense Declaration. He states that he is 52 years old 6 and works 40 hours per week, earning $30.62 per hour as a valet attendant. Father states he earns 7 on average $200 per month for overtime. Father also states that he earns $1,200 per month in net 8 self-employment income as a driver for Uber. Father reports that he has $11,003 in accumulated 9 vacation and sick hours through his employer. Father did not attach paystubs or a Schedule C or 10 Profit and Loss Statement for his Uber driving. 11 5) Attached to Father’s 7/8/2026 Income and Expense Declaration is a declaration wherein Father 12 asks the Court to deny Mother’s request for support retroactive to August 2024. Father states that
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13 in August 2024 (parties’ date of separation), Mother stopped contributing to household and 14 shared family expenses. Father states that from June 2024 through July 2025, he was responsible 15 for all household and community expenses including rent of $2,100 per month, $274 per month 16 for Mother’s life insurance premiums, credit card debt incurred as a result of Mother’s three- 17 month “vacation” which Mother took before the parties’ separation, $961 per month for car 18 payments, $150 per month for vehicle insurance, $900 for vehicle registration, and tuition 19 expenses of $212 per month. Father states he moved out of the marital residence in June 2025. 20 Father requests reimbursement for Mother’s share of household and community expenses that he
21 paid between August 2024 through June 2025. 22 6) On 7/17/2026, Mother filed an Income and Expense Declaration. Mother states that she is 45 23 years old and is a lead host for a restaurant. Mother states that she works 32 hours per week and is 24 paid $5,792 in gross per month. Mother states that her work hours were reduced and her income 25 fluctuates due to reduced hours and variable tips. 26 B. Findings and Order 27 1) Guideline Child and Temporary Spousal Support 28 a. Mother’s request for child support and temporary spousal support retroactive to the 29 parties’ date of separation is denied.
1 b. Effective 4/20/2026 (the date Mother filed her Request for Order), in accordance with the 2 XSpouse calculation attached hereto and incorporated herein, Father shall pay temporary 3 guideline spousal support of $0 and Father shall pay Mother guideline child support of 4 $1,086 per month. One-half shall be due and payable by the 1st of the month and one-half
5 shall be due and payable by the 15th of each month. 6 c. Child support for August 2026 shall be due and payable in full no later than 8/15/2026. 7 d. Based on the foregoing, Father owes Mother child support arrears in the amount of $362 8 for the period 4/20/2026 – 4/30/2026 and $3,258 for the period 5/1/2026 – 7/31/2026, for 9 total child support arrears due and owing of $3,620 for the period 4/20/2026 – 7/31/2026. 10 Effective 9/15/2026, Father shall pay Mother an additional $301.67 by the 15th of each 11 month for 12 months to satisfy these arrearages. 12 e. The XSpouse inputs are based on the following findings:
13 i. The Court finds that Father regularly has the child in his care 4% of the time. It is 14 unknown exactly how much additional time Father will have on weekends, 15 vacations, and holidays. The Court estimates that if Father has the child in his 16 care an additional 48 hours per month, that would amount to an additional 7% of 17 time, bringing his total timeshare to 11%. 18 ii. Father reports working 40 hours per week and earning $30.62 per hour, which 19 averages out to $5,307 per month. 20 iii. Father reports earning $1,200 per month in net self-employment income driving
21 for Uber. 22 iv. Mother reports working 32 hours per week and earning $36 per hour, which 23 averages out to $4,992 per month. 24 v. Mother’s paystubs show that she contributes on average $566 per month to her 25 401(k). 26 2) Child Support Add-Ons 27 a. Effective 8/1/2026, the parties shall share all reasonable uninsured healthcare costs for 28 Blen and all educational expenses for Blen 40% (Father) and 60% (Mother). 29
1 b. The procedure for requesting and paying reimbursements for uninsured healthcare costs 2 for Blen shall be as set forth in Judicial Council Form FL-192. 3 c. The procedure for requesting and paying reimbursements for educational costs for Blen 4 shall be as follows. When a party (e.g. Party A) pays for an educational expense for Blen,
5 within 30 days of paying the expense, Party A shall present to Party B: (a) an itemized 6 statement of charges, (b) proof of payment, and (c) the amount due and owing from Party 7 B. Within 10 days of receiving this information, Party B shall submit a payment to Party 8 A for Party B’s share of the expense. 9 3) No Smith / Ostler Order 10 a. Father reports earning overtime pay each month. Mother's pay stubs likewise reflect that 11 she occasionally earns overtime pay. Mother contends Father receives cash tips that he 12 did not report in his Income and Expense Declaration. However, Mother's pay stubs
13 similarly show that she regularly receives tips. The Court further notes that, after paying 14 child support, Father will have $3,847 in monthly net disposable income, representing 15 approximately 41% of the parties' combined net disposable income. The Court finds that 16 this amount is insufficient to cover Father's reported monthly expenses, even before 17 considering any additional income from overtime or tips. Under these circumstances, the 18 Court finds that Father should retain any additional income from overtime or tips to meet 19 his monthly living expenses. In addition, because both parties receive overtime pay and 20 tips, the Court declines to issue a Smith/Ostler order at this time.
21 4) Review Hearing and Reservation of Jurisdiction 22 a. Because Father failed to attach paystubs, a Schedule C, or a Profit and Loss Statement to 23 his Income and Expense Declaration, the Court’s jurisdiction to recalculate child and 24 temporary spousal support retroactive to 4/20/2026 and modify the orders set forth above 25 is reserved for the next hearing date of Tuesday, 10/20/2026 at 9:00 AM in Dept. 404. 26 b. At least 10 calendar days prior to the next hearing date, both parties shall file and serve 27 updated Income and Expense Declarations. Father shall attach to his Income and Expense 28 Declaration: 29 i. Paystubs for the immediately preceding 2 months
1 ii. Schedule C for 2025 for his Uber driving 2 iii. Profit and Loss Statement for 2026 year-to-date for his Uber driving 3 5) Other Orders 4 a. All requests for property division orders set forth in Mother’s declaration filed 5/28/2026 5 are denied without prejudice and are reserved for trial. 6 b. Father requests set forth in the declaration attached to Father’s 7/8/2026 Income and 7 Expense Declaration for reimbursement for Mother’s share of community expenses that 8 he paid between August 2024 through June 2025 and his requests related to property 9 division are denied without prejudice and are reserved for trial. 10 c. If the parties are unable to reach agreements regarding how to divide their property 11 following the exchange of their Preliminary Declarations of Disclosure, the parties may 12 file an At Issue Memorandum to request a Status Conference, which is the first step
13 towards obtaining a Mandatory Settlement Conference and eventual trial date. 14 d. The parties are encouraged to seek assistance from the ACCESS Center for information 15 regarding how to proceed with their case. Information for contacting the ACCESS Center 16 can be found here: https://sf.courts.ca.gov/access-legal-self-help-center. 17 6) The Court will prepare the Findings and Order After Hearing. 18
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feke v. mekuria xspouse.xsp Xspouse 2026-1-CA
Fixed Shares Father Mother Monthly figures Cash Flow #of children 0 1 2026 Guideline Proposed % time with NCP 11.00 % 0.00 % Comb. net spendable 9417 9432 Filing status SINGLE HH/MLA GUIDELINE Percent change 0% 0% # exemptions 1 * 2 * Nets(adjusted) Father Wages+salary 5307 4992 Father 4949 Payment cost/benefit -1086 -923 Self-employed income 1200 0 Mother 4468 Net spendable income 3863 4026 Other taxable income 0 0 Total 9417 Change from guideline 0 162 TANF+CS received 0 0 Support Other nontaxble income 0 0 Addons % of combined spendable 41% 43% 0 New spouse income 0 0 Guideln CS % of saving over guideline 0% 1145% 1086 401(k) employee contrib 0 566 Total taxes 1558 1334 S.Clara SS 0 Adjustments to income 0 0 Dep. exemption value 0 0 Total 1086 SS paid prev marriage 0 0 # withholding allowances 0w 0w - CS paid prev marriage 0 0 Net wage paycheck 4057 4057 Health insurance 0 0 Mother Other medical expense 0 0 Payment cost/benefit 1086 938 Property tax expense 0 0 Net spendable income 5554 5406 Ded interest expense 0 0 Proposed Change from guideline 0 -148 Charitable contributions 0 0 Tactic 9 % of combined spendable 59% 57% Misc tax deductions 0 0 CS 1148 Qual bus income ded 0 0 SS % of saving over guideline 0% -1045% 0 Required union dues 0 0 Total Total taxes 524 734 1148 Mandatory retirement 0 0 Dep. exemption value 0 0 Hardship deduction 0 * 0 * Saving 14 # withholding allowances 0 0 Other GDL deductions 0 0 Releases 1 Net wage paycheck 3497 3497 Child care expenses 0 0 Released to Father
Father pays Guideline CS, Proposed CS
FC 4055 checking: ON Per Child Information Timeshare cce(F) cce(M) Addons Payor Basic CS Payor Pres CS Payor All children 11 - 89 0 0 0 Father 1086 Father 1086 Father
11 - 89 0 0 0 Father 1086 Father 1086 Father
Time: 01:13:48 Superior Court of California Date: 08/03/26 County of San Francisco