Making a Hawaii Visitation Schedule
No matter where you live, if you are divorced or separated, you need to create an effective child visitation schedule. Hawaii is no different. Let's take a look at how to create 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.
Source: Free Guest Posting Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
About Article Author

Tracy Bensun is interested in the law and especially family law. Her main interest lies in how children are affected by divorce and child custody. She has done extensive research on her own and loves to share her knowledge. She is affiliated with Custody X Change, which is a software program designed to assist in child custody visitation schedules, custody agreements and parenting plans.
View More Articles