Shared Custody in Hawaii
Your Rights in Joint Custody
If you are contemplating seeking an award of joint custody of your child, you should know what your rights and responsibilities in the case of joint custody are. The Honolulu Law Practice of Jackie Kong has represented parents in custody cases for more than a decade, and can help you with your joint custody decisions.
Hawaii Joint Child Custody
Hawaii adopted the Uniform Child Custody Act in 1973, an act adopted by all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The act provides a nationwide framework for child custody, ensuring that the child custody decisions made in one state have full effect in each state. The act provides for custody to be awarded to either parent or both parents "according to the best interests of the child, and the court also may consider frequent, continuing, and meaningful contact of each parent with the child unless the court finds that a parent is unable to act in the best interest of the child."
If the parties decide on joint custody of the child or the court awards child custody, a schedule is created to accommodate where and when the child will stay, and the child's activities and schooling. Each party is responsible for adhering to the schedule meticulously, which allows the child to have stability and the other party to know where the child is and when he or she will return. Each party should keep precise records of financial expenditures, in the event of a dispute about parental spending.
Each party also owes a duty to the child, a duty to provide as stress-free and stable an environment as possible. Parents who disparage their ex-spouse, or who misuse joint custody by returning the child late, ignoring obligations, and undermining the ex-spouse are doing considerable harm to the child and may also lose their joint custody if the court finds that the child would be better served by a change in the custody arrangement.
