Lily Madeleine Bowles Leo v. Austin Jack Leo

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

5) 6 LILY MADELEINE BOWLES LEO,) Case Number: FDI-25-801208) 7 Petitioner) Hearing Date: September 10, 2026) 8 VS.) Hearing Time: 9:00 AM) 9 AUSTIN JACK LEO,) Department: 403) 10 Respondent) Presiding: JPT JUDITH E. HARDING) 11) 12 DECLARATION REGARDING NOTICE AND SERVICE OF REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY 13 EMERGENCY (EX PARTE) ORDERS; REQUEST FOR ORDER FOR CHANGE OF TEMPORARY 14 EMERGENCY ORDER, VISITATION (PARENTING TIME), APPOINTMENT OF A RECOVERY 15 MONITOR, OTHER ORDERS AS SET FORTH HEREIN; REQUEST FOR ORDER FOR CHANGE 16 OF CHANGE OF CHILD CUSTODY, VISITATION (PARENTING TIME), RELOCATE WITH 17 MINOR CHILDREN TO MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, NJ; REQUEST FOR ORDER: CHANGE OF 18 CHILD SUPPORT 19 TENTATIVE RULING 20 The parties are ordered to appear.

The parties may appear in person in Dept. 403 or remotely by 21 Zoom video. If a party chooses to appear by video, that party must abide by the Notice and 22 Instructions for Remote Appearances in San Francisco Family Court set forth above. 23 A. Procedural History 24 1) The parties are Petitioner, Lily M. Bowles Leo (Mother) and Respondent, Austin Leo (Father). 25 They share two minor children: Archer Leo (DOB: 09/28/17) and Violet Leo (DOB: 09/18/19). 26 2) On January 27, 2026, Father filed an ex parte application seeking emergency visitation orders, 27 and appointment of a recovery monitor and other miscellaneous orders.

In particular, Father was 28 seeking the following orders: 29

1 a. Pending implementation of requests, that Mother’s custodial time be supervised by her 2 parents. If they are unable or unwilling to provide direct supervision, then the children 3 returned to Father’s care and custody until the next scheduled rotation. 4 b. Appointment of recovery monitor. 5 c. Timely receipt of all drug testing results directly from testing agency/administering 6 doctor. 7 d. Ongoing Soberlink testing. 8 e. Implications of missed/positive tests. 9 3) On January 27, 2026, the Court issued the following temporary orders pending further hearing: 10 a.

Mother’s parenting time to temporarily exclude overnights; and 11 b. Mother parenting time shall be supervised by maternal grandparents. 12 c. Matter was set for hearing on February 26, 2026. 13 4) On January 27, 2026, Mother filed a Responsive Declaration to Father’s ex parte application. 14 5) On February 2, 2026, Father filed a Supplemental Declaration in support of relief requested. 15 6) On February 2, 2026, Father filed a “Declaration of Attorney Sarah J. Arnott ISO Respondent’s 16 Request for Modification of Custody and Sobriety Monitor.” 17 7) On February 18, 2026, the parties stipulated to continue the February 26, 2026 hearing to March 18 26, 2026. 19 8) On February 24, 2026, Father filed a Request for Order seeking to modify the existing child 20 support order, which was set for hearing on May 19, 2026. 21 9) On March 18, 2026, the parties stipulated to continue the March 26, 2026 hearing to June 16, 22 2026. 23 10) On April 2, 2026, the parties entered into a comprehensive stipulation, which addressed the issues 24 raised in Father’s ex parte application filed January 27, 2026.

Of particular note to the Court is 25 paragraph 24 on page 7 of the stipulation which states that “[b]oth parties further agree that 26 provisions in Section B (Temporary Custody and Visitation Orders) are temporary orders that 27 shall be reviewed at the June 16, 2026, hearing.” 28

1 11) On May 12, 2026, the parties entered into a stipulation in which they continued and consolidated 2 the issues (02/24/26 financial RFO) set for hearing on May 19, 2026, to the pending June 16, 3 2026, hearing. 4 12) On May 22, 2026, Father filed a Request for Order in which he seeks modification of the child 5 custody/visitation orders to include a request to relocate with the minor children to Montgomery 6 Township, NJ. Father’s RFO was set for hearing on July 6, 2026. 7 13) On June 10, 2026, the parties stipulated to continue the support and parenting time hearings from 8 June 16, 2026, to August 11, 2026. 9 14) On July 6, 2026, the Court held a Readiness hearing on Father’s RFO filed May 22, 2026.

The 10 parties were referred to FCS Mediation on August 24, 2026, and continued all matters (i.e., RFOs 11 filed by Father on 01/27/26; 02/24/26; and 05/22/26) to September 10, 2026. 12 15) Between 8/31/2026 and 9/3/2026, both parties filed multiple declarations and other pleadings, 13 including a request for evidentiary hearing filed by Mother on 9/1/2026. 14 16) On 9/8/2026, the parties informed the Court they had reached a stipulated agreement regarding 15 the support issues set for hearing on 9/10/2026 and the only issues which remain are custody and 16 Father’s relocation request. 17 B.

Findings and Order 18 1) This Court has jurisdiction to make child custody orders in this case under the Uniform Child 19 Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. A violation of this order may subject the party in 20 violation to civil or criminal penalties, or both. The country of habitual residence of the minor 21 child is the United States. 22 2) The Court intends to set an evidentiary hearing on the pending custody requests and Father’s 23 relocation request. The parties are ordered to appear and shall be prepared to: (a) advise the

24 Court of any stipulated issues; (b) discuss their time estimate for trial; and (c) inform the Court of 25 the proposed number of witnesses they intend to present. 26

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