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Hawaii divorce laws

Child Support

Lawmakers have put into place Hawaii divorce laws designed to provide for those going through the divorce process. The court can issue temporary orders for care, custody, education, and maintenance of children, subject to its own revision at any stage in the legal process. The judge may issue the following directives: 1. Order the parties or either of them to provide for the support, maintenance, and education of the children, 2. Order either party to provide support and maintenance to the other and 3. Order either party to provide support and maintenance to the other

Child support obligations are in place until the child reaches 19 years of age. In addition, temporary support may be ordered for the maintenance of the other spouse, and can be extended or made permanent with the final decree. Factors considered by the court may include:

1. Financial resources of the parties
2. Ability of the party seeking support and maintenance to meet his or her needs independently
3. Duration of the marriage
4. Standard of living established during the marriage
5. Age of the parties
6. Physical and emotional condition of the parties
7. Usual occupation of the parties during the marriage
8. Vocational skills and employability of the party seeking support and maintenance
9. Needs of the parties
10. Custodial and child support responsibilities
11. Ability of the party from whom support and maintenance is sought to meet his or her own needs while meeting the needs of the party seeking support and maintenance

If a marriage separation (sometimes referred to as a marital separation or legal separation) has been decreed, the court may make such further orders for the support and maintenance of either spouse and for the support, maintenance, and education of minor children, by either spouse, or out of the property of either spouse, as the court deemed appropriate.

Hawaii divorce statutes provide that in cases where a marriage annulment or marital annulment is sought, and there are children of the marriage, that those children be afforded the same rights, protections and parental financial support, including that the children are not considered illegitimate offspring of the parents, that other children of the state receive.

Residency

Hawaii divorce statutes require that at least one of the parties must have established residency within the State of Hawaii for six months immediately prior to the filing of the action. The action is filed in the court of the circuit where the party has resided for at least three months prior to the commencement of the action.

Child Custody       

The court may award child custody or award child support at any time during or after the proceedings for divorce. Courts in Hawaii will be guided by the following factors: 1. Child custody should be awarded to either parent or to both parents according to the best interests of the child, 2. Child custody may be awarded to persons other than the father or mother whenever the award serves the best interest of the child, 3. The court will weigh the wishes of a minor child when deciding which parent will be awarded primary child custody, 4. The courts ability to launch investigations surrounding the living conditions of the child, 5. The court may allow the testimony of any person or expert, 6. Should a determination by the court that family violence has occurred, the court may rule child custody go solely to the parent who fell victim to that behavior, and 7. A court may award visitation to a parent who committed family violence only if the court finds that adequate provision can be made for the physical safety and psychological well-being of the child and for the safety of the parent who is a victim of family violence.

The court can order counseling, supervised visitation, joint child custody or modification of any previous order, as it sees reasonable and prudent.

Visitation

Visitation in Hawaii is much like other states. The parents have the opportunity to create a parenting plan that includes the particulars of when the children will be with the non-custodian, but if they are unable to agree, the court will make that determination itself. If a child is capable of forming an intelligent preference, a court will consider the wishes of the child in the custody determination. Typical visitation for the non-custodian is every other weekend, one non-overnight weekday, alternating holidays, Father's and Mother's Days and a number of weeks in the summer.

Legal Separation
Marital Separation

The parties may petition for a legal separation (sometimes called a marital separation or divorce separation), and the court may grant the separation from "bed and board" for up to two years if the court finds the marriage has been disrupted. The court will further decree for the support and maintenance of either spouse and for the support, maintenance, and education of minor children, by either spouse, or out of the property of either spouse during this time. A legal separation can extend longer, and the petition process looks much like a divorce petition. In either case, important issues like financial matters, property and debts, custody, visitation, and support are expressed in writing in a legal binding agreement.

Grounds for Divorce

Divorces (dissolutions) may be granted to any applicant when any one of the following grounds for divorce are demonstrated: 1. The marriage is irretrievably broken and 2. The parties have lived apart by separation agreement (2 years) Grounds for divorce will be accepted if the parties have not reconciled and shared bed and board during this time.

Marriage Annulment
Marital Annulment

In Hawaii divorce law, the court will Declare the marriage contract has been broken; in an annulment, the court says that there never was a marriage. Annulment is much more difficult to prove -- and is much rarer -- than divorce. A petition for a marriage annulment (sometimes called a marital annulment) is much like a divorce, except that the petitioner must prove grounds for the annulment request. Acceptable grounds for an annulment include: underage, another spouse still living, lacking mental capacity, consent obtained by force, duress, fraud, Concealment of something import e.g. a disease. Prohibited marriages include: Between ancestor and descendant, any degree, brother and sister half or whole-blood, uncle and niece, aunt and nephew legitimate or illegitimate; bigamous; same sex.

Marriage Counseling
Mediation

Parenting plans. In an action where child custody is contested, the court will require each of the parties to submit either a mutual parenting plan, or separate parenting plans. These plans will include a general outline of parental responsibilities and parenting time. This effort should be considered a plan proposal before the court. Plans may include everything from residential schedules to holiday, birthday, and vacation planning, to parental decision-making and responsibility, and a host of other issues.

If the parties cannot agree on a parenting plan, the court may order the parties to participate in alternative dispute resolution (mediation) and in counseling (not necessarily marriage counseling) with a person with professional experience in child custody or parenting issues, or with other appropriate education, unless there is a finding of family violence; and develop and file a detailed parenting plan when requested by either of the parties or parents.

Alimony
Maintenance
Spousal Support

The court has the ability to award temporary alimony (spousal support ) after the initial filing of the case. In addition, the parties may be required jointly or severally to pay for any court costs the bench deems just, including compensation for witnesses, expenses at the trial, attorney's fees, and the like. Guidelines for alimony are taken largely from case law rather than provided by Hawaii state statute.

Waiting Period

Marriage after divorce. There is no mandated waiting period in Hawaii. However. it is often prudent to allow enough time to heal from a broken marriage before initiating another.

Grandparents Rights 

A grandparent or the grandparents of a minor child may file a petition with the court for an order of reasonable visitation rights. The court may award reasonable visitation rights provided that Hawaii is the home state of the child at the time of the commencement of the proceeding and reasonable visitation rights are in the best interests of the child.

Divorce Settlement

The parties will be given the opportunity to agree on a divorce settlement of assets and liabilities, but if they are unable to, the court will divide the estate of the parties, real personal or mixed, whether community, joint or separate as it deems just and equitable after consideration of the following factors:

1. The respective merits of the parties
2. The relative abilities of the parties
3. The condition in which each party will be left by the divorce
4. The burdens imposed upon either party for the benefit of any children of the marriage, and, all other circumstances of the case.

Did you come into this marriage owning a house? Concerned about the equity in that house that you brought into the marriage? Worried the divorce settlement will include the equity you had before the marriage? Here's how it works generally. What you brought into the marriage is usually all yours. However, any appreciation of the house or the property value is normally treated as a "marital asset", meaning that you will likely forfeit a third to a half of that appreciation to your spouse in the divorce.

*subject to certain restrictions