Title 31, Family

[§571-52.5] Guidelines to determine child support amounts. When the court establishes or modifies the amount of child support required to be paid by a parent, the court shall use the guidelines established under section 576D-7, except when exceptional circumstances warrant depart…

§571-52.6 Child support order, judgment, or decree; accident and health or sickness insurance coverage. Each order, judgment, or decree under this chapter or chapter 576B, 580, or 584A ordering a person to pay child support shall include the following provisions:

[§571-52.7] Award of costs and reasonable attorneys' fees. Whenever a party files a motion seeking to enforce a child support order, the court may award the prevailing party the party's costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred, except as this chapter otherwise provides. The …

§571-53 Signing of papers. Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, any decree, order to show cause, injunction, summons, subpoena, warrant, or notice issued by the court in connection with any case or cause, shall have the same validity, force, and effect whether signed by…

§571-54 Appeal. An interested party, aggrieved by any order or decree of the court, may appeal to the intermediate appellate court for review of questions of law and fact upon the same terms and conditions as in other cases in the circuit court, and review shall be governed by ch…

[§571-55] Certification in lieu of oath. Whenever any testimony, declaration, deposition, certification or pleading in the family court is required or authorized to be on oath or affirmation, the person so required or authorized may testify, declare, depose, certify, or plead und…

[§571-56] Offense. A person who makes a false statement which the person does not believe to be true commits an offense whether the false statement is made under an oath required or authorized by law or under "penalty of perjury" as authorized by section 571-55. [L 1970, c 17, pt…

[§571-57] Penalty. The penalty for the offense of making a false statement under "penalty of perjury" shall be the same as would apply if the false statement had been made under oath or affirmation required or authorized by law. [L 1970, c 17, pt of §1]

§571-6 Appointment and duties of employees. (a) For each family court, the judge, or the senior judge when there is more than one judge, shall appoint a chief administrative and executive officer who shall have the title of director of the family court. Under the general supervis…

PART VI. TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS §571-61 Termination of parental rights; petition. (a) Relinquishment. The parents or either parent or the surviving parent who desire to relinquish parental rights to any natural or adopted child and thus make the child available for adopti…

§571-62 Hearing; investigation and report. Every petition under section 571-61 shall be filed in duplicate and the clerk of the court in which the same is filed shall immediately forward a copy of the petition, and of the notice of the time and place of the hearing thereof, to th…

§571-63 Findings and judgment. No judgment of termination of parental rights entered under sections 571-61 to 571-63 shall be valid or binding unless it contains a finding that the facts upon which the petition is based bring the child within such sections and have been proved by…

PART VII. JUVENILE CRIME PREVENTION BUREAU §571-71 Juvenile crime prevention bureau; establishment of. Any chief of police may establish as a subdivision of the police department under the chief's jurisdiction a juvenile crime prevention bureau, to be maintained and conducted as …

§571-72 Duties and powers; reports; expungement of juvenile arrest records. (a) The juvenile division or section shall direct its attention specifically to the suppression, prevention, and investigation of crimes committed by children under the age of eighteen years, and any poli…

§571-73 No limitations on family courts. Nothing in section 571-71 or 571-72 shall be construed to divest family courts of any of their powers, but the same shall specifically grant to the police departments of the several counties the power to take; detain; question; investigate…

§571-74 Rules and standards; investigation and questioning; fingerprinting and photographing. The judges of the family courts shall make such rules and set up such standards of investigation and questioning as they consider necessary to guide and control the police, within their …

§571-8 District family courts; district family judges; appointment; sessions. (a) In addition to the district courts established under section 604-1, there may be established in each of the judicial circuits of the State a district family court with the powers and under the condi…

[§571-8.1] Qualifications; tenure; removal. Each district family judge shall reside in the judicial circuit for which the district family judge is appointed and shall have been an attorney licensed to practice in all the courts of the State for at least five years. District famil…

§571-8.2 Salary of district family judges. The salary of each district family court judge of the various district family courts of the State shall be the same as that of district court judges under section 604-2.5. Whenever the chief justice appoints a district family court judge…

[§571-8.3] Disqualification; absence; vacancy. Whenever it is advisable, by reason of a vacancy in the office of district family judge of any circuit, or by reason of the disqualification of any district family judge, or the district family judge's inability to attend to the dist…

[§571-8.4] Jurisdiction. The senior judge or judge of the family court of the circuit may direct that any case coming within the jurisdictional provisions of this chapter, or all cases of a class or within a district to be designated by the senior judge or judge, shall be heard b…

§571-8.5 Powers. (a) The district family judges may: (b) Every witness duly subpoenaed as provided in this section shall be allowed the same attendance and mileage fees allowed witnesses subpoenaed before the circuit courts. [L 1973, c 219, pt of §1; am L 1980, c 115, §1; am L 19…

PART VIII. GENERAL PROVISIONS §571-81 Contempt of court. (a) Any adult who wilfully violates, neglects, or refuses to obey or perform any lawful order of the court may be proceeded against for contempt of court. Any adult found in contempt of court may be punished as provided by …

§571-82 Court sessions; quarters. Sessions of the court shall be held at such places as the court shall determine, subject to section 603-14. [L 1965, c 232, pt of §1; Supp, §333-37; HRS §571-82; am L 1973, c 211, §1(j)]

§571-83 Court and witness fees. In proceedings under section 571-11(1), (2), or (9), no court fees shall be charged against, and no witness fees shall be allowed to, any party to a petition. No officer of the State or of any political subdivision thereof shall be entitled to rece…

§571-84 Records. (a) The court shall maintain records of all cases brought before it. Except as provided in sections 571-84.6 and 584A-509, in proceedings under section 571-11 and in parentage proceedings under chapter 584A, the following records shall be withheld from public ins…

§571-84.5 Support order, decree, judgment, or acknowledgment; social security number. The social security number of any individual who is a party to a divorce decree, or subject to a support order or parentage determination, or has made an acknowledgment of parentage issued under…

§571-84.6 Minor law violators; proceedings and records not confidential. (a) As used in this section: "Legal record" means petitions, complaints, motions, and other papers filed in any case; transcripts of testimony taken by the court; and findings, judgments, orders, decrees, an…

§571-85 Authority of probation officers; additional probation officers. Within the scope of their duties, probation officers appointed under this chapter shall have the powers and privileges of a police officer. In addition to the probation officers appointed under section 571-6,…

§571-86 Cooperation. Every public official or department shall render all assistance and cooperation within the official's or its jurisdictional power which may further the objects of this chapter. The court may seek the cooperation of organizations whose object is to protect or …

[§571-86.5] Statewide juvenile justice interdepartmental cluster; local juvenile justice interdepartmental cluster; high-need youth services coordination. (a) There is established a statewide juvenile justice interdepartmental cluster to provide coordinated services, as defined i…

§571-87 Appointment of counsel and guardian ad litem; compensation. (a) When it appears to a judge that a person requesting the appointment of counsel satisfies the requirements of chapter 802 for determination of indigency, or the court in its discretion appoints counsel under c…

§571-88 Orders expunging juvenile arrest records. (a) The court may issue an order expunging a juvenile arrest record of a person upon written application by the person or, if the person is a minor, the minor's parent or guardian; provided the arrest was made pursuant to section …

[§571-89] Family court; annual report. Each deputy chief court administrator, or the administrator's designee, shall submit an annual report to the board of family court judges and the Hawaii juvenile justice state advisory council that includes:

[PART IX.] MILITARY DEPLOYMENT PROVISIONS [§571-91] Definitions. As used in this part: "Deploying parent" or "deployed parent" means a legal parent or a legal guardian of a child under the age of eighteen, who is deployed, will likely deploy within the next sixty days, or who has…

§571-92 Application. This part shall only apply to actions under chapters 580 and 584A. Nothing in this part shall supersede any provision of any existing state or federal law. The provisions in this part shall be interpreted consistently with other relevant laws and the standard…

[§571-93] Duty to cooperate and disclose information. (a) Both the deploying parent and other parent shall cooperate with and provide information to each other in an effort to reach a mutually agreeable resolution regarding custody of and visitation with the child. (b) A deployin…

[§571-94] Hearings; electronic participation. Upon reasonable advance notice to the court and the other parent and for good cause shown, the court may expedite custody hearings involving deploying parents and may allow an already-deployed parent to participate in a custody hearin…

[§571-95] Sole factor; effect on existing orders. (a) Deployment or the potential for future deployment shall not be the sole factor in awarding custody and must be considered in relation to all of the factors in section 571-46. (b) If deployment or the potential for future deplo…

[§571-96] Visitation and contact. Unless otherwise ordered by the court and consistent with the best interest of the child, including safety considerations in cases involving a finding of domestic violence, any order that anticipates deployment may require that:

[§571-97] Delegation of the deployed parent's contact rights to another. (a) Upon motion of the deploying parent and consistent with the best interest of the child, including safety considerations in cases involving a finding of domestic violence, the court may delegate the deplo…

PART I. REQUISITES, PROCEDURES §572-1 Requisites of valid marriage contract. In order to make valid the marriage contract, which shall be permitted between two individuals without regard to gender, it shall be necessary that:

[§572-1.5] Definition of marriage. Whenever used in the statutes or other laws of Hawaii, "marriage" means the union licensed under section 572-1. [L 1994, c 217, §2]

[§572-1.7] Continuity of rights; civil union and reciprocal beneficiary relationships. (a) Two individuals who are civil union partners or reciprocal beneficiaries with each other and who seek to marry each other shall be permitted to apply for a marriage license under section 57…

[§572-1.8] Interpretation of terminology to be gender-neutral. When necessary to implement the rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses under the laws of this State, all gender-specific terminology, such as "husband", "wife", "widow", "widower", or similar t…

[§572-1.9] Reliance on federal law. Any law of this State that refers to, adopts, or relies upon federal law shall apply to all marriages recognized under the laws of this State as if federal law recognized such marriages in the same manner as the laws of this State so that all m…

§572-10 Applicant apparently under age. If any applicant for a license to marry appears to any agent to be under the age of eighteen years, the agent shall, before granting a license to marry, require the production of a certificate of birth or other satisfactory proof showing th…

§572-11 Marriage ceremony; license to solemnize; fees. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to perform a marriage ceremony within the State without first obtaining from the department of health a license to solemnize marriages. A standard license to solemnize marriages shall b…

§572-12 By whom solemnized. (a) A license to solemnize marriages may be issued to, and the marriage rite may be performed and solemnized by: upon presentation to the person or society solemnizing the marriage of a license to marry, as prescribed by this chapter. A person or socie…

[§572-12.1] Refusal to solemnize a marriage. (a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a clergy, minister, priest, rabbi, officer of any religious denomination or society, or religious society not having clergy but providing solemnizations that is authorized to perform s…