Hawaii Divorce Laws- Dissolution of Marriage

How does one say 'Til Death Do Us Part' in Hawaiian? However it's said, we know that it isn't the oath it once was, and maybe that is due to no-fault divorces, or perhaps it is a lax society. In any case, you're here and needing answers. Take a deep breath. If nothing else, we'll give you some answers and ease your anxiety.

Hawaii Child Support

Hawaii divorce laws provide a framework 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:

	Order the parties or either of them to provide for the support, maintenance, and education of the children,
	Order either party to provide support and maintenance to the other.

The income of an obligor (the payor) will become subject to withholding, without regard to whether there are arrearages or delinquency, upon the agency receiving a request for income withholding from the obligee and a determination made by the agency that income withholding is appropriate, or upon the agency receiving a request for income withholding from the obligor. If the obligor who receives income on a periodic basis becomes delinquent in making payments under a support order in an amount at least equal to the support payable for one month, the agency will issue an income withholding order that will include an amount to be paid towards the delinquency.

Child support obligations are in place until the child reaches 18 years of age, but may be extended to age 23 if the child is enrolled in an accredited higher educational institution.

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:

	Financial resources of the parties
	Ability of the party seeking support and maintenance to meet his or her needs independently
	Duration of the marriage
	Standard of living established during the marriage
	Age of the parties
	Physical and emotional condition of the parties
	Usual occupation of the parties during the marriage
	Vocational skills and employability of the party seeking support and maintenance
	Needs of the parties
	Custodial and child support responsibilities
	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 (a.k.a. marital separation or legal separation) is pending, 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 deems appropriate. If a marriage separation (sometimes referred to as a marital separation or legal separation) has been accepted, 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 Child Custody

Divorce laws in Hawaii mandate that the court may award child custody or award child support at any time during or after the proceedings for divorce. State law permits the divorcing couple an opportunity to put together a Parenting Plan or Child Custody Agreement, but if they fail to do so, the Family Court in Hawaii will step in with its own plan, guided by the following factors:

	Child custody should be awarded to either parent or to both parents according to the best interests of the child,
	Child custody may be awarded to persons other than the father or mother whenever the award serves the best interest of the child,
	The court will weigh the wishes of your minor child, if your child is of sufficient age and capacity to reason, so as to form an intelligent preference when deciding which parent will be awarded primary child custody,
	The courts ability to launch investigations surrounding the living conditions of the child,
	The court may allow the testimony of any person or expert,
	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
	A court may award Child 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.

Hawaii laws allow that the court can order counseling, supervised visitation, joint child custody or modification of any previous order, as it sees reasonable and prudent.

Co-parenting equally, where the child spends 1/2 the month with each parent (or alternates weeks) is becoming more common, but carries with it its own set of challenges. If you are considering this, it pays to consult with a child psychologist or another professional in this area.

An on-line Parenting Plan makes setting up and agreeing to visitation schedules easier than ever before. If you are concerned that your ex-partner may not live up to his or her end of the child visitation bargain, and you want to keep close track of all parenting times, activities and missed visits, Custody XChange© is the ideal tool for you. This on-line parenting and child visitation platform offers, among other things, an on-line calendar for tracking and journaling parenting time. You can point to or share the calendars for upcoming months to prompt him or her to take good parenting as serious as you do, and at the same time demonstrate that you are keeping close track of all parenting time interactions. If he or she knows there is documentation, the game playing and threats of custody battles tend to go away. You now have control. Trust us on this. This time management system is worth it's weight in gold.   

Visitation
Co Parenting

Developing a Child Visitation Schedule (co-parenting) 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 on a parenting plan, the court will make that determination itself. If a child is capable of forming an informed preference, a court will consider the wishes of the child in the custody determination. A typical visitation schedule 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.

Be aware that you have to guide your side of the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will think of everything. You set the course; your lawyer navigates. Get very familiar with Hawaii divorce laws. If you anticipate any problems with child custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child Custody Strategies. 

Spousal Support
Alimony
Maintenance

The divorce 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. The court may consider the following factors  when determining if alimony is to be awarded:

	Financial resources of the parties;
	Ability of the party seeking alimony to meet his or her needs independently;
	Duration of the marriage;
	Standard of living established during the marriage;
	Age of the parties;
	Physical and emotional condition of the parties;
	Usual occupation of the parties during the marriage;
	Vocational skills and employability of the party seeking support and maintenance;
	Needs of the parties;
	Custodial and child support responsibilities;
	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;
	Other factors which measure the financial condition in which the parties will be left as the result of the action under which the determination of alimony is made;
	Probable duration of the need of the party seeking support and maintenance.

Grounds For Divorce

Divorces (dissolutions) may be granted to any applicant when any one of the following grounds for divorce are demonstrated:

	The marriage is irretrievably broken and
	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

Based on HI divorce law, a family court will declare the marriage contract has been broken; in an annulment, the court says that there never was a marriage (this is known as a nullity). Annulment is much more difficult to prove, and is more rare than divorce. A petition for a marriage annulment (sometimes called a marital annulment) is much like a divorce, except that the petitioner must meet a stricter test in proving 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 important 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.   Read more on annulment

Mediation
Marriage Counseling

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.

Parenting Plan Templates are available on-line, which include everything from residential schedules to holiday, birthday, and vacation planning, to parental decision-making and

Marriage Separation
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 financial support of any children of the marriage. Read more on separation

Waiting Period

The waiting period under state divorce law requires that thirty (30) days elapse from the filing of the summons and complaint before a final judgment of divorce be entered. Hawaii divorce law further requires that neither party to the divorce may remarry, except to each other, until sixty days after the judgment of divorce is entered. If an appeal of the judgment of divorce is taken, the parties may not remarry, except to each other, during the time period of the appeal.   

Grandparents Rights

At the discretion of the court, grandparents may be awarded visitation privileges of minor grandchildren. You should consider having details of grandparents visitation in place before the final decree gets gaveled, otherwise, it may be back to court you go (legal fees). Involved grandparents can expect the family court, in general, to be favorable to petitions requesting time with the children. It goes without saying that a good relationship is always better than a court order to be successful with visitation time awarded. Unfortunately, a fairly high percentage of these cases experience alienation from the custodial parent. If you are a grandparent, you should discuss this with your adult child during the divorce proceedings, so that your visitation interests are covered.      

Divorce Settlement
Distribution of Assets

State divorce laws make Hawaii an "equitable distribution" state. If the parties cannot reach a divorce settlement on dividing marital assets, the court will do so. Hawaii divorce laws determine that the division of property and debts between the divorcing parties should be fair and equitable, but not necessarily equal. The parties have the opportunity to come to a divorce settlement and not leave the settlement to the court. There is no fixed standard to divide property, as each case will be decided on its facts, and the trial court's discretion will not be disturbed on appeal without a showing of clear abuse.

[Editor's note: make sure you and your lawyer make certain you leave no stone unturned, as once the ink dries on this issue, it's pretty well set in stone]. Did you come into this marriage owning a house? Concerned about the equity in that house that you brought into the marriage? Worried about having a pre-marital asset be subject to a divorce settlement? 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.

Hawaii statute §580-47

When dividing and distributing the property and debts of the parties, Hawaii law lists the following guidelines that will be taken into consideration by a Hawaii divorce court :

	The respective merits of the parties;
	The relative abilities of the parties;
	The condition in which each party will be left by the divorce, the burdens imposed upon either party for the benefit of the children of the parties;
	All other circumstances of the case.

Residency Requirements

No divorce will be granted unless either party to the marriage has been domiciled or has been physically present in Hawaii for a continuous period of at least six months prior to filing for the divorce. Anyone in the military service residing on any military or federal base, installation, or reservation within the State or who may be present in the State under military orders will not be prohibited the above mentioned requirements.