STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2469

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2480
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
2480 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANNULMENT, DIVORCE, AND
     SEPARATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to amend the divorce law to
permit service by mail in lieu of publication where the plaintiff
files an affidavit attesting to impoverishment and the
whereabouts of the defendant are unknown.

     Your Committee finds that in a divorce, annulment, or
separation, a plaintiff must give a defendant notice of the
action filed.  Section 580-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, enumerates
the different forms of services allowed:  (1) personal service if
the defendant lives within the circuit; (2) service by mail if
personal service is not feasible or if the defendant lives
outside of the state or on another island; and (3) publication if
the defendant has refused to accept service by mail, is
concealing themself or evading service, or if the plaintiff does
not know the address or whereabouts of the defendant after a
reasonable and due inquiry search for at least fifteen days
before or after the action is filed.  Your Committee notes that
publication of notice in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin or the
Honolulu Advertiser costs upward of $400.00, which would be
onerous for someone of limited financial means.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2469
                                   Page 2


     Your Committee further finds that until January 1, 2000, the
Hawaii Family Court Rules, independent of statutory authority,
allowed indigent people seeking to divorce their missing spouses
an alternative.  The rules allowed the plaintiff to send a copy
of the complaint and summons to the spouse at the spouse's last
known address by registered or certified mail in lieu of service
by publication.  On January 1, 2000, the Family Court rules
changed and service by mail in lieu of publication was no longer
allowed.  Your Committee recognizes that the repeal of this
Family Court Rule has adversely affected indigent individuals who
may wish to get a divorce, but are prevented from obtaining such,
because they cannot afford the publication costs.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Volunteer Legal
Services Hawaii, Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal
Hotline, Women's Legislative Coalition, three family law
practitioners, and a concerned individual.  The Judiciary
submitted comments on this measure.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by making technical, non-substantive changes for the
purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
2480, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2480, S.D. 1, and
be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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