Hi Ms. Rench,

Ahead of our call, here’s a quick high-level fact summary (not a full narrative):

- Parties: Karl Stiefvater (56) and Lisa Donahue (legal name: Elisabeth Donahue) (56) (for conflict: zinch@zizzerzinch.com)
- Married: 2005-02-25 (San Francisco, CA)
- Child: Juno (non-binary), born 2007-12-12 (age 18)
- Current residences: I’m in San Francisco; Lisa is in St. Louis, MO (roughly 15 years)
- Separation marker (for discussion): 2026-02-09 (I flew to Spokane; first overnight away)
- Income: I’m unemployed with no current income. Lisa is unemployed and receives roughly $17k/month in trust distributions/allowance (approx).
- Assets/debts (rough): we own a home with a mortgage; Lisa has her own bank account with roughly $70k (approx); no other debts known.
- Trust constraint: trust corpus is roughly $5M (approx); I’m not a beneficiary and cannot access/touch the corpus.
- Immediate priorities: timing/pace (guidance on slowing this down responsibly, e.g., short standstill/status-quo while counsel gets aligned); interim arrangement so I’m not cut off while counsel/process is set up; SF housing; protect stability for my mom’s assisted living during the transition.

If you have an intake form/questionnaire you prefer, I’m happy to fill it out in advance. Phone works best for me.

Thank you,
Karl Stiefvater
+1 (415) 938-7275
qarl@qarl.com