Reimbursement Protocol; Request for Order Change of Visitation; Request to Strike Portion of Findings and Order After Hearing
1 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA 2 COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO 3 UNIFIED FAMILY COURT 4
5) 6 EMILY S PITCHER,) Case Number: FPT-23-378239) 7 Petitioner) Hearing Date: May 7, 2026) 8 VS.) Hearing Time: 9:00 AM) 9 NOAH REID,) Department: 404) 10 Respondent) Presiding: AI MORI) 11) 12 REIMBURSEMENT PROTOCOL: REGARDING MOTHER'S REQUEST FOR A CLEAR WRITTEN 13 PROTOCOL REQUIRING RECEIPTS, ITEMIZATION, AND ORGANIZED SUBMISSION, SO 14 NEITHER PARTY MUST RECONSTRUCT LARGE RECEIPT PRODUCTIONS; REQUEST FOR 15 ORDER CHANGE OF VISITATION (PARENTING TIME), SEE #7, ORDER SHORTENING TIME 16 TENTATIVE RULING 17 I. Custody and Visitation 18
19 The parties are ordered to appear in person or via Zoom video on 5/7/2026 at 9:00 AM in 20 Dept. 404. If a party chooses to appear by video, that party must abide by the Notice and 21 Instructions for Remote Appearance in San Francisco Family Court set forth above. 22
23 II. Mother’s Request for Protocol to Organize Requests for Child Support Add-On 24 Reimbursements 25
26 A. Procedural History 27 1) At the prior 3/10/2026 hearing, the Court took under submission the parties’ requests related to 28 child support add-on expenses and how to interpret various provisions of the Stipulation and 29 Order Re: Custody, Visitation, and Move to Oregon filed on 9/11/2025.
1 2) On 4/3/2026, the Court issued a Findings and Order After Hearing which adjudicates the parties’ 2 disputes related to child support add-ons and which sets a future hearing date of 5/7/2026 on 3 Mother’s request for a “clear written protocol requiring receipts, itemization, and organized 4 submission, so neither party must reconstruct large receipt productions.” The Court ordered the 5 parties to file and serve written declarations (not to exceed 2 pages) at least 5 calendar days in 6 advance of the 5/7/2026 hearing outlining their proposed protocol. 7 3) On 4/30/2026, Father filed a Reply Declaration wherein he proposes the following reimbursement 8 protocol: 9 a.
Parties to continue exchanging spreadsheets for expenses with a column for the parties to 10 either agree or disagree with the expense and to state the reason for that disagreement as 11 to that specified receipt 12 b. Parties to exchange spreadsheets by the 10th of each month 13 c. Each party to have 5 days to review and respond to the other party’s spreadsheet 14 d. Parties to upload receipts to Google Drive 15 4) On 5/1/2026, Mother filed a “Reply Declaration in Support of Request to Continue or Narrow 16 May 7, 2026 Hearing” wherein Mother asks the Court to continue the hearing on reimbursement 17 protocol.
Mother did not include a suggested reimbursement protocol in her declaration. 18 B. Findings and Order 19 1) Mother’s request that the Court continue the hearing on all issues except for custody and 20 visitation is denied. 21 2) The Court finds good cause to adopt Father’s protocol with a few modifications and additions as 22 outlined below, effective immediately. The protocol outlined below shall supersede Paragraph 29 23 of the Stipulation and Order filed 9/11/2025, except that the last sentence of Paragraph 29 shall 24 remain in full force and effect (i.e., “The parents may use only the following methods to 25 reimburse each other: PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, check, or by direct transfer into the other’s 26 account.”) 27 a.
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By the 10th of each month, the parties shall exchange spreadsheets which outline all child 28 support add-on expenses incurred during the immediately preceding month that the 29
1 parties are required to pay per the Stipulation and Order filed 9/11/2025 and Findings and 2 Order After Hearing filed 4/3/2026 (as modified by Section III of this order below). 3 b. By the 10th of each month, the parties shall also upload to a shared Google Drive folder 4 copies of receipts for each claimed add-on expense for the immediately preceding month. 5 c. No later than the 15th of each month, the parties shall reimburse to the other party all 6 child support add-on expenses incurred for the immediately preceding month they are 7 required to pay as set forth in the Stipulation and Order filed 9/11/2025 and the Findings 8 and Order After Hearing filed 4/3/2026 (as modified by Section III of this order below). 9 For any child support add-on reimbursements paid, the party shall check a box indicating 10 payment was made in a column which shall be included for this purpose in each party’s 11 spreadsheet.
If, however, there is a dispute regarding a child support add-on 12 reimbursement request, the party shall state the reason for the disagreement in a second 13 column which shall also be included for this purpose in each party’s spreadsheet. The 14 parties shall thereafter meet and confer regarding any disagreed upon reimbursement 15 claims no later than the end of each month. 16 d. Father shall create a spreadsheet template for the parties to use for the above-outlined 17 protocol forthwith. Father shall also create a shared Google folder for the parties to use to 18 upload invoices and proof of payment for add-on expenses forthwith. 19
20 III. Father’s Request to Strike Portion of Findings and Order After Hearing filed 4/3/2025 21
22 A. Procedural History 23 1) Following the hearing on 3/10/2026, the Court issued a Findings and Order After Hearing on 24 4/3/2026, which includes the following language in Paragraph B(3): “Flights Originating Outside 25 San Francisco – Paragraph 27 requires the parties to share equally expenses ‘for the child’s 26 transportation to / from exchanges’ and requires the parties to ‘work together to choose the most 27 convenient and least expensive airline tickets’ ‘when the child must travel between parents.’ The 28 Court does not find that the parties’ Stipulation requires the parties to share the cost of the ticket 29 for a parent to fly to and from visits. Moreover, Paragraph 27 requires the parties to share the cost
1 of ‘round-trip flight costs.’ While there is no specific limitation that the child’s flights originate 2 from and return to either San Francisco or Portland, the reference to ‘round-trip’ flight costs does 3 strongly suggest that the parties contemplated for travel to originate from and return to the 4 parents’ home cities. In any event, to the extent Father is requesting reimbursement for the cost 5 for himself to fly to Oregon, from any point of origin, the Court finds that such expense is not 6 covered by Paragraph 27 because Paragraph 27 only refers to the ‘child’s’ transportation.” 7 2) Father requests in his Declaration filed 4/30/2026 that the Court vacate Paragraph B(4) of the 8 Findings and Order After Hearing filed 4/3/2026.
Father argues that whether the parties should 9 share the cost of flights for Father to fly to and from Portland for visitation with Vela was not 10 raised in the parties’ filings as a disputed issue. Father also states that the parties were previously 11 operating and negotiating under the assumption that parent’s flights were covered under the 12 agreement. Father states, “Since this issue was not properly before the Court to decide, I did not 13 properly brief the issue including what wording I believe covers these expenses, and that the 14 parties clearly intended to include these expenses in this agreement by their actions since the 15 signing of the agreement.
I request that the Court under CCP 473(b) vacate this portion of the 16 order and reserve this issue for our [May] 26, 2026 long cause hearing where it can be fully 17 briefed by both parties and properly decided. If the Court does not reserve this issue for the April 18 26 hearing, I will be forced to file a separate motion... I would like to avoid the unnecessary cost 19 of this motion since we already have a long cause hearing on May 26, 2026 where it could be 20 properly heard.” 21 3) In Mother’s declaration filed 5/1/2026, Mother did not address this issue, but instead asked that 22 the Court narrow the scope of the 5/7/2026 hearing to just issues related to custody and visitation 23 and that the Court continue the hearing on all other issues. 24 B.
Findings and Order 25 1) Father’s request to vacate Paragraph B(3) of the Findings and Order After Hearing filed 4/3/2026 26 is granted. 27 2) At the upcoming hearing on 5/26/2026 at 1:30 PM in Dept. 414, the Court will reconsider: (a) 28 Father’s request that the parties share equally the cost of a parent for flights for visitation with 29 Vela, including flights from or to a destination other than the parent’s home city and (b) Father’s
1 argument that the Stipulation and Order filed 9/11/2025 already contains language to this effect. 2 At least 10 calendar days in advance of the 5/26/2026 hearing, both parties shall file and serve a 3 declaration (not to exceed 3 pages in length, not including exhibits) briefing the Court on these 4 issues. 5
6 IV. Preparation of Order 7
8 1) Father’s attorney shall prepare the Findings and Order After Hearing. 9 2) Preparation of Order: If you are directed by the court to prepare the order after hearing – within 10 10 calendar days of the hearing you must either: (a) Serve the proposed order to the other 11 party/counsel for approval, and follow the procedures set forth in CA Rules of Court, Rule 12 5.125(c), or (b) If the other party did not appear or the matter was uncontested, submit the 13 proposed order after hearing directly to the court. Failure to submit the order after hearing within 14 10 days may allow the other party to prepare a proposed order and submit it to the court in 15 accordance with CA Rules of Court, Rule 5.125(d). 16
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