How to modify child custody and parenting time in Hawaii

Sources last checked 7 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. This page rests on the text of Hawaii Revised Statutes section 571-46 (criteria and procedure in awarding custody and visitation), as published by the Hawaii State Legislature. Hawaii’s statute says “visitation” for the other parent’s time with the child.

The short version

Hawaii’s statute sets one test: any custody award is “subject to modification or change” whenever the child’s best interests “require or justify” it. The statute does not name a threshold such as a substantial change in circumstances. An annotation the Legislature publishes with the statute, summarizing a 2016 Hawaii Supreme Court decision, says a material change in circumstance is not required before the court considers the child’s best interests in modifying a custody order. Where practicable, the judge who made the original order hears the motion. For support, see modifying child support and alimony in Hawaii.

The modification rule, section 571-46(a)(6)

• The test. Best interests, whenever they “require or justify” a change. The court may make custody orders “any time during the minority of the child”.
• Same judge. Where practicable, the same person who made the original order hears the motion or petition for modification.
• The annotation. The Legislature’s page lists case notes beneath the statute. One says the section does not require a material change in circumstance. Another says that when joint custodial parents are deadlocked on an important decision, the impasse qualifies as a material change in circumstances. We read these as the Legislature’s summaries, not the decisions themselves.

What the court looks at, section 571-46(a)

• Who gets custody. Custody should be awarded to either parent or to both parents according to the child’s best interests. The court “also may consider frequent, continuing, and meaningful contact” of each parent with the child, unless a parent is unable to act in the child’s best interest.
• The child’s wishes. If the child is of sufficient age and capacity to form an intelligent preference, the child’s wishes are considered and given due weight.
• People other than the parents. Custody may go to someone other than the father or mother if that serves the child’s best interest. A person with de facto custody in a stable and wholesome home who is fit and proper is entitled prima facie to an award.
• Investigations and experts. On good cause the court may require an investigation and report on the child’s care, welfare and custody, may hear testimony from any person or expert, and may appoint a guardian ad litem, with fees assessed as costs.
• Visitation. Reasonable visitation rights are awarded to parents, grandparents, siblings and any person interested in the child’s welfare, in the court’s discretion, unless visitation is shown to be detrimental to the child’s best interests. Visitation by electronic communication may be included.

Family violence, section 571-46(a)(9)

• The presumption. A finding that a parent committed family violence “raises a rebuttable presumption” that sole custody, joint legal custody or joint physical custody with that parent is detrimental to the child and not in the child’s best interest.
• Why it matters in a modification. A new finding of family violence, or evidence the court did not hear before, can bear on a request to change an earlier order. Subsections (10) to (14) set conditions the court may impose on visitation; we did not summarize them here.

The best-interests factors, section 571-46(b)

• Not a closed list. The court considers, “but not be limited to”, sixteen listed factors.
• The factors. (1) Any history of sexual or physical abuse of a child by a parent. (2) Any history of neglect or emotional abuse. (3) The overall quality of the parent-child relationship. (4) Each parent’s caregiving history before and after separation. (5) Each parent’s cooperation in developing and implementing a plan to meet the child’s needs, interests and schedule, except where family violence was found. (6) The child’s physical health needs. (7) Emotional needs. (8) Safety needs. (9) Educational needs. (10) The child’s need for relationships with siblings. (11) Each parent’s actions allowing the child to keep family connections through events and activities, except where family violence was found. (12) Each parent’s actions separating the child’s needs from the parent’s own. (13) Past or current drug or alcohol abuse. (14) Each parent’s mental health. (15) The areas and levels of conflict in the family. (16) A parent’s prior wilful misuse of the protection-from-abuse process to gain a tactical advantage, which can count only if established by clear and convincing evidence and the court states its findings.

What we could not confirm

• How to file. We did not read the Hawaii Family Court Rules, any Judiciary form or instruction for a motion to change custody, any filing fee, or which circuit family court hears your case. We cannot say whether you file a motion or a petition, or what supporting papers are required.
• How courts apply the test. We read the statute and the Legislature’s published case-note summaries, not the decisions. We cannot say how much proof of changed circumstances judges expect in practice.
• Other statutes. We did not read section 580-47 (orders in divorce cases), the relocation rules, the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act chapter, or sections 571-46.1 to 571-46.4 and 571-46.5 on related topics.
• Statute currency. The history line under section 571-46 ends with 2013 amendments, but we did not check later session laws.

Spot something out of date? See our corrections or email hello@thecusp.app.

Sources

• Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes section 571-46, read 7 November 2026