Child Custody & Visitation Blog

The laws about Hawaii child custody are found in Chapter 571, Article 31 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Here is a brief overview of some of the guidelines.

The Hawaii Parenting Plan

Chapter 571-46.5 requires that parents in a custody situation make a parenting plan. The parents can work together on the plan, or each parent can submit an individual plan. The parenting plan can be general with the parents working out the details informally, or the plan can be detailed. The plan can include: a complete Hawaii custody schedule (with a residential, holiday, and vacation schedule), how the parents will share legal responsibility of the children, how the parents will handle disputes, information sharing and access, etc.

Grandparent Visitation

Chapter 571-46.3 states that grandparents in Hawaii can petition for visitation of the grandchildren. The court will award a grandparent visitation if it is in the best interest of the child. If visitation is granted, a Hawaii visitation schedule must be made to accommodate it.

Best Interest of the Child

Chapter 571-46 explicitly explains that every decision in a custody proceeding must be made in the best interest of the child. Thus, a Hawaii custody agreement must meet the child’s needs and have the child’s best welfare as the focus. Some of the factors that the court will consider when determining the best interest of the child include:

• Any history of sexual or physical abuse of a child by a parent;
• Any history of neglect or emotional abuse of a child by a parent;
• The overall quality of the parent-child relationship;
• The history of caregiving or parenting by each parent prior and subsequent to a marital or other type of separation;
• Each parent’s cooperation in developing and implementing a plan to meet the child’s ongoing needs, interests, and schedule; provided that this factor shall not be considered in any case where the court has determined that family violence has been committed by a parent;
• The physical health needs of the child;
• The emotional needs of the child;
• The safety needs of the child;
• The educational needs of the child;
• The child’s need for relationships with siblings;
• Each parent’s actions demonstrating that they allow the child to maintain family connections through family events and activities; provided that this factor shall not be considered in any case where the court has determined that family violence has been committed by a parent;
• Each parent’s actions demonstrating that they separate the child’s needs from the parent’s needs;
• Any evidence of past or current drug or alcohol abuse by a parent;
• The mental health of each parent;
• The areas and levels of conflict present within the family; and
• If either parent has willfully misused the protection from abuse clause to gain custody of the child.