REPORT TITLE:
Custody Order/Written Reason


DESCRIPTION:
Requires written order with reasons for decision in awarding
custody to person against whom there is evidence of family
violence.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2067
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO AWARDING CUSTODY AND VISITATION.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 571-46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§571-46  Criteria and procedure in awarding custody and
 
 4 visitation.  In the actions for divorce, separation, annulment,
 
 5 separate maintenance, or any other proceeding where there is at
 
 6 issue a dispute as to the custody of a minor child, the court,
 
 7 during the pendency of the action, at the final hearing, or any
 
 8 time during the minority of the child, may make an order for the
 
 9 custody of the minor child as may seem necessary or proper.  In
 
10 awarding the custody, the court shall be guided by the following
 
11 standards, considerations, and procedures:
 
12      (1)  Custody should be awarded to either parent or to both
 
13           parents according to the best interests of the child;
 
14      (2)  Custody may be awarded to persons other than the father
 
15           or mother whenever the award serves the best interest
 
16           of the child.  Any person who has had de facto custody
 
17           of the child in a stable and wholesome home and is a
 
18           fit and proper person shall be entitled prima facie to
 
19           an award of custody;
 

 
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 1      (3)  If a child is of sufficient age and capacity to reason,
 
 2           so as to form an intelligent preference, the child's
 
 3           wishes as to custody shall be considered and be given
 
 4           due weight by the court;
 
 5      (4)  Whenever good cause appears therefor, the court may
 
 6           require an investigation and report concerning the
 
 7           care, welfare, and custody of any minor child of the
 
 8           parties.  When so directed by the court, investigators
 
 9           or professional personnel attached to or assisting the
 
10           court shall make investigations and reports which shall
 
11           be made available to all interested parties and counsel
 
12           before hearing, and the reports may be received in
 
13           evidence if no objection is made and, if objection is
 
14           made, may be received in evidence provided the person
 
15           or persons responsible for the report are available for
 
16           cross-examination as to any matter that has been
 
17           investigated;
 
18      (5)  The court may hear the testimony of any person or
 
19           expert produced by any party or upon the court's own
 
20           motion, whose skill, insight, knowledge, or experience
 
21           is such that the person's or expert's testimony is
 
22           relevant to a just and reasonable determination of what
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2067
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           is for the best physical, mental, moral, and spiritual
 
 2           well-being of the child whose custody is at issue;
 
 3      (6)  Any custody award shall be subject to modification or
 
 4           change whenever the best interests of the child require
 
 5           or justify the modification or change and, wherever
 
 6           practicable, the same person who made the original
 
 7           order shall hear the motion or petition for
 
 8           modification of the prior award;
 
 9      (7)  Reasonable visitation rights shall be awarded to
 
10           parents, grandparents, and any person interested in the
 
11           welfare of the child in the discretion of the court,
 
12           unless it is shown that rights of visitation are
 
13           detrimental to the best interests of the child;
 
14      (8)  The court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent
 
15           the interests of the child and may assess the
 
16           reasonable fees and expenses of the guardian ad litem
 
17           as costs of the action, payable in whole or in part by
 
18           either or both parties as the circumstances may
 
19           justify; 
 
20      (9)  In every proceeding where there is at issue a dispute
 
21           as to the custody of a child, a determination by the
 
22           court that family violence has been committed by a
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2067
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           parent raises a rebuttable presumption that it is
 
 2           detrimental to the child and not in the best interest
 
 3           of the child to be placed in sole custody, joint legal
 
 4           custody, or joint physical custody with the perpetrator
 
 5           of family violence.  In addition to other factors that
 
 6           a court must consider in a proceeding in which the
 
 7           custody of a child or visitation by a parent is at
 
 8           issue, and in which the court has made a finding of
 
 9           family violence by a parent:
 
10           (A)  The court shall consider as primary the safety and
 
11                well-being of the child and of the parent who is
 
12                the victim of family violence;
 
13           (B)  The court shall consider the perpetrator's history
 
14                of causing physical harm, bodily injury, assault,
 
15                or causing reasonable fear of physical harm,
 
16                bodily injury, or assault, to another person; and
 
17           (C)  If a parent is absent or relocates because of an
 
18                act of family violence by the other parent, the
 
19                absence or relocation is not a factor that weighs
 
20                against the parent in determining custody or
 
21                visitation;
 
22           If custody is awarded to a person against whom there is
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2067
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           evidence of family violence, the court shall include,
 
 2           in its written order, the reasons for its decision.
 
 3     (10)  A court may award visitation to a parent who committed
 
 4           family violence only if the court finds that adequate
 
 5           provision for the physical safety and psychological
 
 6           well being of the child and adequate provision for the
 
 7           safety of the parent who is a victim of family violence
 
 8           can be made;
 
 9     (11)  In a visitation order, a court may:
 
10           (A)  Order an exchange of a child to occur in a
 
11                protected setting;
 
12           (B)  Order visitation supervised by another person or
 
13                agency;
 
14           (C)  Order the perpetrator of family violence to attend
 
15                and complete, to the satisfaction of the court, a
 
16                program of intervention for perpetrators or other
 
17                designated counseling as a condition of the
 
18                visitation;
 
19           (D)  Order the perpetrator of family violence to
 
20                abstain from possession or consumption of alcohol
 
21                or controlled substances during the visitation and
 
22                for twenty-four hours preceding the visitation;
 
23           (E)  Order the perpetrator of family violence to pay a
 
24                fee to defray the costs of supervised visitation;
 

 
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 1           (F)  Prohibit overnight visitation;
 
 2           (G)  Require a bond from the perpetrator of family
 
 3                violence for the return and safety of the child.
 
 4                In determining the amount of the bond, the court
 
 5                shall consider the financial circumstances of the
 
 6                perpetrator of family violence;
 
 7           (H)  Impose any other condition that is deemed
 
 8                necessary to provide for the safety of the child,
 
 9                the victim of family violence, or other family or
 
10                household member; and
 
11           (I)  Order the address of the child and the victim to
 
12                be kept confidential;
 
13     (12)  The court may refer but shall not order an adult who is
 
14           a victim of family violence to attend counseling
 
15           relating to the victim's status or behavior as a
 
16           victim, individually or with the perpetrator of family
 
17           violence, as a condition of receiving custody of a
 
18           child or as a condition of visitation;
 
19     (13)  If a court allows a family or household member to
 
20           supervise visitation, the court shall establish
 
21           conditions to be followed during visitation; and
 
22     (14)  A supervised visitation center must provide a secure
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2067
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           setting and specialized procedures for supervised
 
 2           visitation and the transfer of children for visitation,
 
 3           and provide supervision by a person trained in security
 
 4           and the avoidance of family violence."
 
 5      SECTION 2.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 6      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 7 
 
 8                           INTRODUCED BY: ________________________