Pauline Gunawan v. Simon Mei

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

5) 6 PAULINE GUNAWAN,) Case Number: FDI-24-800605) 7 Petitioner) Hearing Date: August 13, 2026) 8 VS.) Hearing Time: 9:00 AM) 9 SIMON MEI,) Department: 404) 10 Respondent) Presiding: AI MORI) 11) 12 REQUEST FOR ORDER TERMINATE MARITAL STATUS & REQUEST 271 SANCTION 13 TENTATIVE RULING 14 The parties are ordered to appear in Dept. 404 at 9 AM on 8/13/2026 in-person or by Zoom 15 video to arrange a time for Wife to return to Husband his passport, Certificate of Citizenship, and 16 other identification documents. The parties shall also be prepared to discuss the photo and video 17 material of Wife that Wife states is in Husband’s possession. 18 If a party chooses to appear by Zoom, that party must abide by the Notice and Instructions for 19 Remote Appearance in San Francisco Family Court set forth above. 20

21 A. Procedural History 22 1) Petitioner Pauline Gunawan (Wife) and Respondent Simon Mei (Husband) married on 3/30/2022. 23 The parties agree they separated on 8/1/2023, for a marriage of 1 year and 4 months. The parties 24 have no minor children. Wife is represented by Open Door Legal attorney Brittany Jackson. 25 Husband is represented by attorney Joseph Tse. 26 2) On 11/26/2024, Wife filed a Community Property Declaration which lists the following assets 27 and debts: 1995 Toyota Camry ($2,000), Joint Chase Savings Account ($3,110), Joint Chase 28 Checking Account ($2,052.58), Respondent’s PAGA Settlement ($604.95), Respondent’s Blue 29 Nile Loan ($3,287.87), and Respondent’s Amazon Credit Card (Unknown).

1 3) On 2/25/2025, Wife filed a Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure stating 2 that her Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure was personally served on Husband on 2/18/2025. 3 4) On 3/6/2026 and 4/16/2026, Husband filed Declarations Regarding Service of Declaration of 4 Disclosure stating that his Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure was electronically served on 5 6/13/2025. 6 5) Now on for hearing is Husband’s Request for Order filed 4/13/2026 asking the Court to bifurcate 7 and terminate the parties’ marital status and order Wife to return “all of my personal documents 8 and belongings currently in her possession, including but not limited to my passport, Certificate 9 of Citizenship, and other identification documents.”

Husband also requests the Court to award 10 him $4,000 in Family Code section 271 attorney’s fees sanctions. Attached to Husband’s Request 11 for Order is a declaration by his attorney Joseph Tse who states, “Since the exchange of 12 disclosures, my office has made multiple good-faith efforts to resolve this matter informally and 13 to obtain Petitioner’s agreement to bifurcate and terminate marital status without the necessity of 14 a hearing... Petitioner’s failure to respond to repeated communications necessitated the 15 preparation and filing of the present Request for Order seeking bifurcation and sanctions.” 16 6) On 6/2/2026, Wife’s attorney Brittany Jackson filed a Request to Reschedule Hearing, asking that 17 the 6/16/2026 hearing date originally scheduled for Husband’s 4/13/2026 Request for Order be 18 continued because Ms.

Jackson needed to care for her mother who had two eye surgeries 19 scheduled for 6/9/2026 and 6/16/2026. 20 7) On 6/12/2026, the Court granted Ms. Jackson’s request and continued the hearing date to 21 8/13/2026. 22 8) On 7/31/2026, Wife filed a Responsive Declaration asking the Court to deny Husband’s requested 23 relief. 24 9) On 8/5/2026, Wife’s attorney Ms. Jackson filed a declaration stating that on 2/21/2025 and 25 3/4/2025, she emailed Husband’s attorney Mr. Tse to coordinate moving the case forward and to 26 arrange for Husband to retrieve his personal belongings from Wife’s possession.

Ms. Jackson 27 states Mr. Tse did not respond. Ms. Jackson states that on 9/2/2025, her office contacted Mr. Tse 28 regarding the following missing statements: Credit Card Statements, Loan Statement from Blue 29 Nile, other debt statements (Fastrak and DMV fee), Car title, 2024 Tax Returns, Chase 9321

1 Savings Statements, and Chase 8500 Checking Statements. Regarding the latter two accounts, 2 Ms. Jackson’s office stated that they understood the accounts would automatically be closed due 3 to zero funds but they still wanted to see the statements for those accounts. Ms. Jackson states 4 that to date Mr. Tse has not provided the requested documents. Ms. Jackson states that on 5 2/23/2026, she received a settlement proposal from Mr. Tse, which she confirmed receiving in 6 March 2026. In May 2026, Ms.

Jackson requested that the parties meet and confer and did not 7 hear back from Mr. Tse. Ms. Jackson states that both parties have items in the other’s possession 8 that the other party would like to retrieve, including intimate and potentially damaging photo and 9 video material of Wife. Ms. Jackson requests that the Court deny Husband’s request to bifurcate 10 and terminate marital status because there are several statements missing for several accounts 11 from Husband’s Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure and terminating the parties’ marital status 12 would eliminate any incentive for Husband to meet and confer or work towards a global 13 settlement or return property in each party’s possession.

Ms. Jackson also states that she and Wife 14 have been conducting themselves in good faith and that Wife is unemployed and does not have 15 the ability to pay any sanction award. 16 10) On 8/6/2026, Wife’s attorney Ms. Jackson filed a Request to Reschedule Hearing. Ms. Jackson 17 states there has been a material breakdown in communication and the attorney-client relationship 18 that impairs Ms. Jackson’s ability to provide effective representation and this necessitates 19 additional time to address representation issues. 20 11) Husband did not file a Reply Declaration. 21 B.

Findings and Order 22 1) Wife’s request for a second continuance of the hearing on Husband’s 4/13/2026 Request for 23 Order is denied. The Court finds that Wife has been able to substantively respond to Husband’s 24 request in her attorney’s declaration filed 8/5/2026. The Court also finds that any potential 25 prejudice to Wife from entry of a status-only judgment is adequately addressed by the statutory 26 protections imposed pursuant to Family Code section 2337(c) in addition to the Court's express 27 reservation of jurisdiction over all remaining issues. 28 2) No later than Friday, 8/21/2026 at 5:00 PM, Husband shall provide to Wife a copy of the title for 29 his vehicle as well as copies of his 2024 Tax Returns.

Husband shall also provide statements

1 showing the values and balances for the following accounts as of date of marriage and date of 2 separation: 3 a. BOA Credit Card #1 4 b. BOA Credit Card #2 5 c. Apple Credit Card (0011) 6 d. Citi Bank Credit Card (2418) #1 7 e. Amazon Credit Card (4578) 8 f. FBT & Mercury Financial Credit Card (2478) 9 g. Capital One Credit Card (7805) 10 h. SYNCB/PPC Credit (4419) 11 i. Citi Bank Credit Card (6616) #2 12 j. Loan Statement from Blue Nile (see FL-142) 13 k. Other debt statements (Fastrak and DMV fee) 14 l.

Chase 9321 Savings Statements 15 m. Chase 8500 Checking Statements 16 3) The Court finds: 17 a. Wife filed a Petition requesting Dissolution of Marriage on 11/26/2024, citing 18 irreconcilable differences. 19 b. Father filed a Response and Request for Dissolution of Marriage on 2/4/2025, also citing 20 irreconcilable differences. 21 c. The Court first acquired jurisdiction over Husband when Husband was personally served 22 with the Petition and Summons on 2/18/2025. 23 d. Within the Petition, Wife indicated she was a resident of California for at least six months 24 and of San Francisco County for at least three months immediately preceding the filing of 25 the Petition. 26 e.

On 2/25/2025, Wife filed a Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure 27 stating that her Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure was personally served on Husband 28 on 2/18/2025. 29

1 f. On 3/6/2026 and 4/16/2026, Husband filed Declarations Regarding Service of 2 Declaration of Disclosure stating that his Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure was 3 electronically served on 6/13/2025. 4 g. Neither party has identified any pension or retirement plans in which the community has 5 an interest. 6 4) Based on the foregoing, Husband’s request to bifurcate and terminate the parties’ marital status is 7 GRANTED with the protections set forth below. Each party is restored to their previous single 8 status as of 8/13/2026.

The Court finds this termination date meets the requirement set forth in 9 Family Code section 2339(a). 10 5) As set forth in the attached Bifurcation of Status of Marriage or Domestic Partnership (FL-347), 11 the protections of Family Code section 2337(c)(1)-(6) shall apply against Husband until judgment 12 is entered and becomes final on all remaining issues. 13 6) The parties are reminded that the automatic temporary restraining orders set forth in the 14 Summons remain in effect pursuant to Family Code section 233(a), notwithstanding termination 15 of the parties’ marital status. 16 7) The Court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate all remaining issues in this dissolution matter is reserved 17 under Family Code section 2337(f). 18 8) Husband’s attorney shall prepare the Status-Only Judgment and Notice of Entry of Judgment and 19 submit three hard copies of these documents to the Dept. 404 clerk. 20 9) Husband’s request for $4,000 in Family Code section 271 attorney’s fees sanctions is denied. 21 10) The parties are ordered to appear in Dept. 404 at 9 AM on 8/13/2026 in-person or by Zoom 22 video to arrange a time for Wife to return to Husband his passport, Certificate of 23 Citizenship, and other identification documents.

The parties shall also be prepared to 24 discuss the photo and video material of Wife that Wife states is in Husband’s possession. 25

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