Making a Hawaii Visitation Schedule

If you are divorced or separated and have children, it is important that you know and understand the child custody laws of your state. The state of Hawaii is no different. It has custody laws that can be found in the Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 571. The state of Hawaii requires that parents submit a parenting plan in child custody and visitation court proceedings and one of the most important components of a parenting plan is a child visitation schedule. It is important to understand Hawaii family laws so you can create an effective child visitation schedule as part of your parenting plan. Hawaii's main objective in any child custody and visitation proceeding is to uphold the child's best interests.

Before you begin making your Hawaii visitation schedule, you should familiarize yourself with Chapter 571-46 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, where family law is explained. The state of Hawaii does not condone family violence and any parent found to engage in violence, especially if that violence is directed at or committed in the presence of the child, must adhere to strict visitation rules. Any parent who has engaged in violence may have limited or supervised visitation if any visitation is awarded at all. A parent found to have committed family violence will be granted visitation only if provisions can be made to ensure the safety of the child and other parent. The court will consider any previously committed violence and determine whether ongoing contact would be harmful to the child. In most cases of family violence, the perpetrator(s) will be required to attend behavioral or educational training and/or counseling so they can resume visitation or contact with the child. The court may also require parents to attend parenting classes or counseling if it would benefit the child.

The state of Hawaii may award custody of a child to anyone, including a non-relative or step-parent, in order to protect the child and maintain the child's best interests. A non-parent applying for custody must prove that the biological parent(s) are unfit, that allowing the child to reside with the parent(s) would be harmful, and/or that the child has benefited from residing with the non-parent. Grandparents may also be awarded visitation rights by a Hawaii court. Awarding a grandparent rights for visitation does not give them custodial rights or even lessen the parents' custodial rights but they can file for custody if the conditions are appropriate.

As you create your schedule for visitation, do it with your child's best interests in mind. A Hawaii court will award custody to either or parents and will consider frequent and ongoing contact with each parent as it pertains to the child's best interests. There are many factors to be considered as the best interests of the child such as the child's age and maturity level, relationships the child has with any siblings or others, the parents' caregiving ability, the child's medical and educational needs as well as any special needs the child may have. You can find a complete list of the factors a Hawaii court considers when deciding the best interests of the child in Chapter 571-46-14-b.

Your visitation schedule should also include information about holidays. Holiday traditions, birthday celebrations, school holidays and breaks should all be included in the holiday portion of your visitation schedule. Above all, your child's best interests should be the driving factor and force of your creating a visitation schedule that works.