Michael Edward Graves v. Ranjie Long

1 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA 2 COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 3 UNIFIED FAMILY COURT 4

5) 6 MICHAEL EDWARD GRAVES,) Case Number: FPT-25-378624) 7 Petitioner) Hearing Date: September 1, 2026) 8 VS.) Hearing Time: 9:00 AM) 9 RANJIE LONG,) Department: 403) 10 Respondent) Presiding: BOBBY P. LUNA) 11) 12 REQUEST FOR ORDER RE: CHILD SUPPORT, ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS, RETROACTIVE 13 CHILD SUPPORT TO 6/10/2025 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) The parties are Petitioner Michael Edward Graves (Father) and Respondent Ranjie Long 19 (Mother). They were never married; they share one minor child: Achernar (DOB: 2/19/25). 20 2) On 5/19/26, Mother filed a Request for Order seeking guideline monthly child support retroactive 21 to 6/10/25, an order to share equally child support add-on expenses, and $100,000 in attorney’s 22 fees and costs pursuant to Family Code section 7605. Mother asserts that she requested child 23 support in her Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order (DVRO) filed 6/10/25, and the 24 Court reserved jurisdiction over child support retroactive to 6/10/25 in the Amended Findings and 25 Order After Hearing (FOAH) filed 9/8/25.

The matter was set for hearing on 7/7/26. 26 3) On 5/19/26, Mother filed an Income and Expense Declaration. 27 4) On 5/19/26, counsel for Mother filed a declaration substantiating her request for attorney’s fees 28 and costs. 29 5) On 6/25/26, Father filed an Income and Expense Declaration.

1 6) On 7/6/26, the parties filed a Stipulation and Order agreeing to continue the 7/7/26 hearing to 2 9/1/26. 3 7) On 8/17/26, Father filed a Responsive Declaration consenting to guideline child support 4 retroactive to 6/10/25 and an equal split of child support add-on expenses. Father opposes 5 Mother’s request for $100,000 in attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to Family Code section 7605. 6 Father attached proposed XSpouse calculations. 7 8) On 8/25/26, Mother filed an updated Income and Expense Declaration. 8 9) On 8/25/26, Mother filed a Statement of Support Calculations. 9 10) On 8/25/26 Mother filed Notice of Augmentation of Respondent’s Request for Need-Based 10 Attorney Fees and Costs increasing her request to $150,000. 11 11) On 8/26/26, Mother filed an amended Statement of Support Calculations. 12 12) The Court notes that on 5/29/26 the parties concluded trial before the Hon.

Monica F. Wiley on 13 Mother’s request to move-away to Vancouver, Canada. 14 B. Findings and Order 15 1) Mother’s request for guideline monthly child support retroactive to 6/10/25 is GRANTED. 16 2) Father’s request for imputation of income to Mother is DENIED as premature. 17 3) The Court finds good cause to adopt Father’s proposed support calculations attached to his 18 8/17/26 Responsive Declaration as set forth below. 19 4) Accordingly, Court finds Father owes to Mother a total of $16,363 for retroactive child support 20 for the period of 6/10/25 – 8/31/26.

Father shall pay Mother the $16,363 balance in full by 21 10/1/26, which was calculated as follows: 22 a. For the period of 6/10/25-7/4/25, when Father had a 0% timeshare, child support was 23 $2,146.00 per month for total support owed of $1,788.33 by Father to Mother. See 24 XSpouse “PERIOD A,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 25 b. For the period of 7/5/25-9/2/25, when Father had a 5.4% timeshare, child support was 26 $2,113.00 per month for total support owed of $4,226.00 by Father to Mother.

See 27 XSpouse “PERIOD B,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 28

1 c. For the period of 9/3/25-11/16/25, when Father had an 18% timeshare, child support was 2 $1,978.00 per month for total support owed of $4,945.00 by Father to Mother. See 3 XSpouse “PERIOD C,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 4 d. For the period of 11/17/25-12/21/25, when Father had a 32% timeshare, child support 5 was $1,740.00 per month for total support owed of $2,030 by Father to Mother. See 6 XSpouse “PERIOD D,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 7 e. For the period of 12/22/25-1/25/26, when Father had a 43% timeshare, child support was 8 $1,499.00 per month for total support owed of $1,748.83 by Father to Mother.

See 9 XSpouse “PERIOD E,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 10 f. For the period of 1/26/26-3/1/26, when Father had a 57% timeshare, child support was 11 $973.00 per month for total support owed of $1,135.17 by Father to Mother. See 12 XSpouse “PERIOD F,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 13 g. For the period of 3/2/26-4/26/26, when the parties had a 2-2-3 or 50% parenting 14 timeshare, child support was $1,296.00 for total support owed of $2,419.20 by Father to 15 Mother.

See XSpouse “PERIOD G,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 16 h. Effective 4/27/26, when Father’s timeshare changed to 100% because Mother relocated 17 to Canada, child support was $448.00 per month for a total of $1,897 owed by Mother to 18 Father. See XSpouse “PROPOSED CALULATION FORWARD 9/1/2026,” which is 19 attached hereto and incorporated herein. 20 5) Commencing 9/1/26, and until the parties reach an agreement regarding parenting time moving 21 forward, Mother shall pay Father $448 per month in accordance with XSpouse “PROPOSED 22 CALULATION FORWARD 9/1/2026,” which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. 23 Mother shall pay Father on the 1st of every month. 24 6) Father’s request for Smith/Ostler bonus support is DENIED. 25 7) Father’s request for reimbursement of past expenses is DENIED as the majority of the costs 26 Father lists (i.e., Mother’s rent and health insurance) do not constitute child support add-on 27 expenses.

In so far as the costs do constitute child support add-on expenses (i.e., childcare costs 28 and healthcare expenses), no proof of payment was provided. 29

1 8) Moving forward, the parties shall share equally the following add-one expenses: childcare costs 2 related to employment or to reasonably necessary education or training for employment skills, 3 reasonable uninsured healthcare costs for the children, and the reasonable costs associated with 4 mutually agreed upon extracurricular activities (neither party shall unreasonably withhold consent 5 for a child to participate in an activity). The procedure to make or pay a reimbursement claim for 6 these child support add-ons shall be as set forth in Judicial Council Form FL-192. 7 9) Mother’s request for Family Code section 7605 attorney’s fees and costs is GRANTED in the 8 amount of $75,000. 9 10) An award of attorney's fees and costs is appropriate because there is a demonstrated disparity 10 between the parties in access to funds to maintain counsel and in the ability to pay for legal 11 representation.

The Court makes this finding partly because Father will have 87% of the parties’ 12 combined net spendable income whereas Mother will have 13% of the parties’ combined net 13 spendable income after support is paid. See XSpouse “PROPOSED CALULATION FORWARD 14 9/1/2026.” Father’s percentage of net spendable income was higher than Mother’s for the period 15 of 6/10/25 – 8/31/26 as well. The Court also notes the significant disparity in cash assets and 16 easily saleable funds listed on the parties’ respective Income and Expense Declarations. 17 11) The Court finds Father has or is reasonably likely to have the ability to pay for legal 18 representation for both parties and $75,000 in attorney's fees and costs is reasonable and 19 necessary.

Father shall pay Mother the $75,000 balance in full 12/1/26. 20 12) Counsel for Mother shall prepare the Findings and Order After Hearing and include as an 21 attachments form FL-342 and FL-192. 22 13) Preparation of Order: If you are directed by the court to prepare the order after hearing – within 23 10 calendar days of the hearing you must either: (a) Serve the proposed order to the other 24 party/counsel for approval, and follow the procedures set forth in CA Rules of Court, Rule 25 5.125(c), or (b) If the other party did not appear or the matter was uncontested, submit the 26 proposed order after hearing directly to the court.

Failure to submit the order after hearing within 27 10 days may allow the other party to prepare a proposed order and submit it to the court in 28 accordance with CA Rules of Court, Rule 5.125(d). 29