Perry

*948 MEMORANDUM *

Appellant Melanie Perry appeals the district court’s dismissal of her complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Perry challenges the district court’s reliance on the domestic relations exception and the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. We affirm the conclusion of the district court on the alternative ground of Younger abstention.

Federal subject matter jurisdiction must exist at the time the complaint is filed. Morongo Band of Mission Indians v. Cal. State Bd. of Equalization, 858 F.2d 1376 , 1380 (9th Cir.1988). When Perry filed her complaint, a state guardianship proceeding was ongoing. The presence of the ongoing state proceeding raises the question of whether the district court should have abstained under Younger. We may ask this question “for the first time on appeal because Younger abstention may be raised sua sponte at any point in the appellate process.” H.C. ex. rel Gordon v. Koppel, 203 F.3d 610, 613 (9th Cir.2000).

Younger abstention applies. The guardianship proceedings were ongoing as of the time the federal action was filed, and Perry’s equitable claims sought to involve the federal court in terminating or truncating the state court proceedings.…