§571-46.3 Grandparents' visitation rights; petition; notice; order. 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 the following criteria are met:
(1) This State is the home state of the child at the time of the commencement of the proceeding; and
(2) Reasonable visitation rights are in the best interests of the child.
No hearing for an order of reasonable visitation rights under this section shall be had unless each of the living parents and the child's custodians shall have had due notice, actual or constructive, of the allegations of the petition and of the time and place of the hearing thereof.
An order made pursuant to this section shall be enforceable by the court, and the court may issue other orders to carry out these enforcement powers if in the best interests of the child. [L 1993, c 166, §1; am L 1998, c 20, §2]
Rules of Court
Pleadings, see Hawaii Family Court Rules, part A(III).
Case Notes
The "best interests of the child" standard in paragraph (2) requires the family court to give "special weight" to (i.e., uphold a rebuttable presumption in favor of) the visitation decisions of a custodial parent whose fitness has not been challenged; thus, the family court erred to the extent that it relied on Troxel to invalidate this section (2003); however, as a "harm to the child" standard was constitutionally required and could not be read into this section without making a substantive amendment to the statute, this section, as written, was unconstitutional. 116 H. 323, 172 P.3d 1067 (2007).
Article XII, §7 of the Hawaii constitution and/or §1-1 do not authorize for native Hawaiian grandparents any more visitation rights than §571-46(7) and this section authorize for all grandparents, native and non-native Hawaiian. 112 H. 113 (App.), 144 P.3d 561 (2006).
Discussed: 88 H. 68 (App.), 961 P.2d 1162 (1998).
Structure Hawaii Revised Statutes
571-1 Construction and purpose of chapter.
571-3 Family courts, divisions of circuit courts.
571-4 Family courts, circuits.
571-5 Board of family court judges.
571-6 Appointment and duties of employees.
571-8 District family courts; district family judges; appointment; sessions.
571-8.1 Qualifications; tenure; removal.
571-8.2 Salary of district family judges.
571-8.3 Disqualification; absence; vacancy.
571-11 Jurisdiction; children.
571-12 Transfer from other courts.
571-13 Retention of jurisdiction.
571-21 Complaint; investigation; petition.
571-22 Waiver of jurisdiction; transfer to other courts.
571-22.5 Appeal of waiver of jurisdiction.
571-23 Summons; notice; custody of minor.
571-24 Failure to answer summons; warrants.
571-31 Taking children into custody; release; notice.
571-31.1 Standard for detention.
571-31.2 Juvenile intake and diagnostic services.
571-31.3 Voluntary assistance.
571-31.4 Informal adjustment, law violators.
571-31.5 Informal adjustment, status offenders.
571-31.6 Informal adjustment, minor who may be both law violator and status offender.
571-32 Detention; shelter; release; notice.
571-32.1 Contract and fee-for-service accommodations.
571-33 Detention and shelter facilities.
571-34 Criminal history record checks.
571-41 Procedure in children's cases.
571-41.1 Extradition of minors to Hawaii.
571-41.2 Extradition of minors from Hawaii.
571-42 Procedure in adult cases.
571-43 Additional remedies not pleaded.
571-44 Physical or mental examination and treatment.
571-46 Criteria and procedure in awarding custody and visitation; best interest of the child.
571-46.2 Orders relating to custody and visitation cases.
571-46.4 Child custody evaluators; qualification; registry; complaints.
571-46.6 Criteria and procedure in awarding custody and visitation; disability.
571-47 Determination of parentage of child born in wedlock.
571-48.5 Probation supervision requirements.
571-48.6 Earned discharge from probation; reporting requirements.
571-50 Modification of decree, rehearing.
571-51 Support of minor committed for study or care.
571-51.5 Modification of support and visitation decrees.
571-52 Assignment by court order of future income for payments of support.
571-52.3 Immediate income withholding.
571-52.5 Guidelines to determine child support amounts.
571-52.7 Award of costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.
571-55 Certification in lieu of oath.
571-61 Termination of parental rights; petition.
571-62 Hearing; investigation and report.
571-71 Juvenile crime prevention bureau; establishment of.
571-72 Duties and powers; reports; expungement of juvenile arrest records.
571-73 No limitations on family courts.
571-74 Rules and standards; investigation and questioning; fingerprinting and photographing.
571-82 Court sessions; quarters.
571-83 Court and witness fees.
571-84.5 Support order, decree, judgment, or acknowledgment; social security number
571-84.6 Minor law violators; proceedings and records not confidential.
571-85 Authority of probation officers; additional probation officers.
571-87 Appointment of counsel and guardian ad litem; compensation.
571-88 Orders expunging juvenile arrest records.
571-89 Family court; annual report.
571-93 Duty to cooperate and disclose information.
571-94 Hearings; electronic participation.
571-95 Sole factor; effect on existing orders.
571-96 Visitation and contact.
571-97 Delegation of the deployed parent's contact rights to another.