Hawaii

Marriage & Family Law Home

In the state of Hawaii, following divorce the court may grant maintenance payments to either spouse for a limited or indefinite amount of time after the order has been made. This maintenance is otherwise known as alimony. Alimony payments are dependent on several factors.

Some factors that may change the court’s decision in amount, length, or requirement of alimony payments include, but are not limited to, are: the length the marriage, the age and physical and mental health of both parties, the division of the property made during the process of the divorce, and the earning abilities ....... Click here to get more info on Alimony

Case Notes Agreement to pay all post-high school education expenses is not an exceptional circumstance to allow lower child support payments than the specified guidelines.

Guidelines do not take priority before the parties' agreement to pay more than the guidelines specify, however they do take priority before the parties' agreements to pay less.

Once the court establishes the amount of child support required to be paid by a parent, the court shall use the guidelines established, unless the circumstances need it to be an exception that would warrant departure.

Neither costs for a second vehicle or preschool costs of another child of the parent without custody supported a finding of a circumstance of exception.

The guidelines are:

• Applied statewide



• Put in place to simplify child support calculations as much as possible



• Put in place ensuring that at least the child benef ....... Click here to get more info on Child Support

In determining the amount of the bond, the court shall consider the financial circumstances of the perpetrator of family violence; (H) Impose any other condition that is deemed necessary to provide for the safety of the child, the victim of family violence, or other family or household member; and (I) Order the address of the child and the victim to be kept confidential; (12) The court may refer but shall not order an adult who is a victim of family violence to attend, either individually or with the perpetrator of the family violence, counseling relating to the victim's status or behavior as a victim as a condition of receiving custody of a child or as a condition of visitation; (13) If a court allows a family or household member to supervise visitation, the court shall establish conditions to be followed during visitation; (14) A supervised visitation center shall provide a secure setting and specialized procedures for supervised visitation and the transfer of children for visitation and supervision by a person trained in security and the avoidance of family violence; (15) The court may include in visitation awarded pursuant to this section visitation by electronic communication provided that the court shall additionally consider the potential for abuse or misuse of the electronic communication, including the equipment used for the communication, by the person seeking visitation or by persons who may be present during the visitation or have access to the communication or equipment; whether the person seeking visitation has previously violated a temporary restraining order or protective order; and whether adequate provision can be made for the physical safety and psychological well-being of the child and for the safety of the custodial parent; (16) The court may set conditions for visitation by electronic communication under paragraph (15), including visitation supervised by another person or occurring in a protected setting. Where there is no child custody evaluator available that meets the requirements and standards, or any child custody evaluator to serve indigent parties, the court may appoint a person otherwise willing and available in accordance with section 571-46.4; (5) The court may hear the testimony of any person or expert, produced by any party or upon the court's own motion, whose skill, insight, knowledge, or experience is such that the person's or expert's testimony is relevant to a just and reasonable determination of what is for the best physical, mental, moral, and spiritual well-being of the child whose custody is at issue; (6) Any custody award shall be subject to modification or change whenever the best interests of the child require or justify the modification or change and, wherever practicable, the same person who made the original order shall hear the motion or petition for modification of the prior award; (7) Reasonable visitation rights shall be awarded to parents, grandparents, siblings, and any person interested in the welfare of the child in the discretion of the court, unless it is shown that rights of visitation are detrimental to the best interests of the child; (8) The court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the child and may assess the reasonable fees and expenses of the guardian ad litem as costs of the action, payable in whole or in part by either or both parties as the circumstances may justify; (9) In every proceeding where there is at issue a dispute as to the custody of a child, a determination by the court that family violence has been committed by a parent raises a rebuttable presumption that it is detrimental to the child and not in the best interest of the child to be placed in sole custody, joint legal custody, or joint physical custody with the perpetrator of family violence. In addition to other factors that a court shall consider in a proceeding in which the custody of a child or visitation by a parent is at issue, and in which the court has made a finding of family violence by a parent: (A) The court shall consider as the primary factor the safety and well-being of the child and of the parent who is the victim of family violence; (B) The court shall consider the perpetrator's history of causing physical harm, bodily injury, or assault or causing reasonable fear of physical harm, bodily injury, or assault to another person; and (C) If a parent is absent or relocates because of an act of family violence by the other parent, the absence or relocation shall not be a factor that weighs against the parent in determining custody or visitation; (10) A court may award visitation to a parent who has 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; (11) In a visitation order, a court may: (A) Order an exchange of a child to occur in a protected setting; (B) Order visitation supervised by another person or agency; (C) Order the perpetrator of family violence to attend and complete, to the satisfaction of the court, a program of intervention for perpetrators or other designated counseling as a condition of the visitation; (D) Order the perpetrator of family violence to abstain from possession or consumption of alcohol or controlled substances during the visitation and for twenty-four hours preceding the visitation; (E) Order the perpetrator of family violence to pay a fee to defray the costs of supervised visitation; (F) Prohibit overnight visitation; (G) Require a bond from the perpetrator of family violence for the return and safety of the child. ....... Click here to get more info on Custody

One of the interesting things about the state of Hawaii is that it is purely a no-fault state. ....... Click here to get more info on Divorce

In Hawaii, a biological parent of a minor child may request visitation rights by petitioning the court on their own or as part of an open divorce, parentage or custody case. ....... Click here to get more info on Visitation

Under Hawaii law, marital property is that which is acquired or is a direct result of the labor and investments of the parties during the marriage is subject to equitable division. Equitable division does not mean marital property is divided equally, it is divided in manner that results in a fair or equitable result for each spouse.

Courts will consider the following factors including: age and health of each spouse; skills and employability of each spouse; current economic condition of each spouse; and violations of laws or hiding assets so as to avoid division ....... Click here to get more info on Property Division