Hawaii grandparents’ legal rights, guidelines, regulations, and rules of law allow you to ask for visitation, and temporary custody of your grandchildren. HI grandparents can also file for full custody, guardianship, or adoption, to raise their grand-kids, through a HI family law custody court judicial process. The proper legal advice, guidance, and strategies are key to ensure a successful outcome to any predicament regarding your grandchildren. Fortunately, studies have shown that the “Best Interests” for your grandchildren is that they have an active relationship with their grandparents. Grandfathers and grandmothers can often provide a healthier and more stable environment than the children’s biological parents. As a result, Hawaii’s “Best Interest of the Child” guideline fully supports a grandparents’ rights for visitation and custody. The legal extent to which you can visit, provide, and support your grandchildren will need to be determined and approved through a HI family law court hearing litigation process.
Children are all too often kept from their grandparents, or exposed to abuse and neglect. Typically, most if not all of these circumstances
are completely out of their control. This unhealthy environment is a damaging situation for children’s emotional and physical well-being. Children often don’t have a voice to be heard, and it is our responsibility as grandparents to be that voice. A voice that defends, supports, protects, and cares for all grandchildren that so desperately need our help.
The Hawaii Judicial Legal System Recognizes the Importance of Grandparents’ Rights Regarding Visitation and Custody of Grandchildren; and Fully Understands That Abuse and Neglect are Prevalent in HI Families.
HI family law fully acknowledges the ability for grandparents to provide a positive and stable environment. An environment, which is able to provide leadership, and a parenting platform so many children desperately need. Grandchildren even spending limited time with their grandparents can help provide the much-needed comfort and security that children require on a regular basis.
The situation grandchildren are exposed to varies greatly. Some are in a positive stable environment, and grandparents are simply denied access or may be allowed very limited contact with their grandchildren. The other end of the spectrum is a situation that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. If you can prove your grandchildren are being subjected to an abusive and neglectful environment, the Hawaii judicial system will act quickly and forcefully on your behalf. Don’t think for one second that as grandparents your rights will be restricted or limited. Remember, the “Best Interest of the Children” is a standard that is fully recognized and supported in the state of Hawaii.
If your grandchildren are in an abusive or neglected environment you may file a petition for a HI child protective proceeding. If abuse, neglect, or imminent danger exist, child protective services may enforce an emergency removal of the children and place them into protective custody. A child protective proceeding is typically followed by a number of court hearings. A fact-finding court hearing is set to determine if the allegations are true. A dis-positional hearing is set to decide what should be done if the child has been neglected or abused. Finally, a permanency hearing is set to determine and finalize the permanent placement and security of the children.
It’s important to recognize, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) was established to ensure that any
child custody litigation occurs in the child’s “home state”. The “home state” is defined as the last state where a child has lived for 6 consecutive months with a parent. This act was adopted to discourage parents from moving out-of-state in an attempt to manipulate the judicial system for whatever reason. Parental attempted kidnapping by moving children to another state or jurisdiction was one of the main reasons the UCCJEA was adopted.
Hawaii Grandparents’ Legal Rights, Guidelines, Regulations, and Rules of Law Enable You to Defend Your Visitation Rights, Fight for Custody, or the “Best Interests” of Your Grandchildren Through HI Family Law.
The modification to your grandchild’s custody situation may be modified in Hawaii on your behalf. In some cases it will be a temporary modification based on a continuing effort of both parents to SUCCESSFULLY overcome the obstacles that prevent them from retaining full custody again. Parents inability to provide a safe, stable, humane, and secure home environment can be due to many different factors, including but not limited to: (substance abuse, incarceration, mental health issues, anger management, poor leadership skill sets, endangerment, physical abuse, emotional abuse, domestic violence, divorce, etc.). In other cases you may be awarded full custody. Often times, full custody comes with the option to legally adopt your grandchildren.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that you have no legal rights in the state of Hawaii when it
comes to your grandchildren. HI family law will help ensure your grand-kids get what they deserve and need. Remember to focus your efforts on their “Best Interests” at all times. Your grandchildren will thank you when they are mature enough to realize the decisions and sacrifices you made for them and their future.
I cannot stress enough, the fact that grandchildren need their grandparents. For some grand-kids seeing their grandparents on a regular basis is the best option. Others need to be removed from a physically and emotionally damaging environment permanently. Grandparents are often the first and best option for children to find the stable and secure environment they desperately need and deserve. Check out the links below to help secure visitation with your grandchildren, or fight for the rights of someone who is unable to defend themselves.
- Click Here 😎 for a State-Specific GRANDPARENTS’ RIGHTS MANUAL, and a GRANDPARENTS GOING TO CUSTODY COURT TO ASSERT THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS MANUAL. Both Contain State-Specific Laws, Regulations, Guidelines, and Strategies for Hawaii (HI), and all Fifty States. All the Necessary Legal Forms and Paperwork are Included to Provide the Tools You Need to Secure Visitation, and an Appropriate Environment for Your Grandchildren.
- Click Here 😎 if You or Someone You Know Wishes to Create Their Own Professional Quality Visitation Schedule, Visitation Calendar, Parenting Plan Agreement, Expense Reports, and MUCH MORE. This Allows You to Track Actual Visitation Time and Expenses, Prepare for any Negotiation or Court Appearance, Save $$$… on Attorney Fees, Spend Less Time in Court, and More Time with Your Grandchildren or Children.
The time to act is now, because all children deserve the best that our society has to offer. As a Hawaii grandparent you have rights. 
These rights enable you to request visitation, and also allow you to be a voice for someone who may desperately need your help and support. Life can come with many challenges, but if you believe that everything happens for a reason then life’s challenges will suddenly become an obstacle with a manageable solution. Don’t forget, Hawaii grandparents’ legal rights, regulations, guidelines, and rules of law, regarding grandchild visitation and custody, were also legislated for guidance, advice, and strategies to support the “Best Interests of the Children” standard through HI family law.
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Grandparents’ Rights for Visitation, Custody, and Support
Grandparents' Visitation Rights and Custody Rights allow a legal request for visitation and temporary custody of grandchildren. Grandparents seeking full custody, to raise their grandchildren, have the authority to file for legal guardianship or adoption through a family law custody court hearing judicial process. Read More →
 Grandparents’ Rights for Visitation, Custody, and Support){kind=link}
My daughters boyfriend is denying our visitation and keeping our grandson away from us. Boyfriend seems to have control over my daughter and very manipulative towards using our grandson to hurt our feelings etc.. He is in control of my Daughter and our Grandson. He verbally threaten my wife and about never seeing our son again. He is not the natural father and my daughter is so blinded towards having him hurt us with our son…
My daughter was going out with another women that she had met, and that women was 3 months pregnant. She had been with her for 3 years. My granddaughter will be 3 years old on 8/06/2015. We had loved this child as our own grandchild and love her with all of our hearts. Now the mom is leaving my daughter, and my concern is that I will never get to see my granddaughter anymore. Do I have rights, so that I can keep having her in my life. I’m not the biological grandparent, but I had never looked at it that way since the child was born. Please help me, this has been a concern of mine for a while. I kept asking the mom that if the relationship doesn’t work out, can she promise me that she will never take her child away from us. The mom said, I will never do that to you guys because both of you were the only grandparents that gave her love and affection. You guys brought her up and provided her with everything. I know we say things like that in the heat of the moment, and all that can change. It will really kill me not to have her in our life because of that. Based on that, do I have a chance to fight for visitation rights.
I have friend and her daughter lives with her auntie, and the aunt is the pastor of a church. Anyway, the daughter has kids, which are my friends grand-kids, and she wants to see them. She used to be able to visit them, but now the aunts has brain washed her daughter. Anyway, the daughter does not want her to see the kids anymore, and so my friend needs to know if she has rights to see her grandchildren.
My daughter is denying me visitation. Her husband is in the military, and they are living on Oahu. They will be there for at least another 2 years. My daughter has cut me out of her life and is telling people I was an abusive mother and that’s why she won’t let me have access to my granddaughter. The abuse she complains of is false. Her father (my ex) was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and his mother was at one point in her life institutionalized. My research indicates that my daughter may have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). People with this disorder typically seek to cut their caregivers out of their lives and lie about family members. My concern is that children of people with BPD are at risk for emotional abuse. I’ve also recently learned that my daughter has arbitrarily assigned my grandparent rights to another woman in Tennessee, who is not related to the family at all. The more I describe this, the more bizarre it sounds — which sums much of my daughters behaviors. How do I get started building a case to assert my grandparent rights? Since they are in Hawaii, this would be the best venue to do it in, as other states do not typically operate from the “best interests” perspective.
Aloha, I am in a very similar situation. That’s why I am writing to you. Our situations are almost identical. I was wondering what the outcome has been? My daughter is also living on Oahu with her husband who is in the military, they live on a base and have denied me visiting or meeting my Grandson. He was just born! However, they are allowing the Great Grandmother and his parents to visit. I am heart broken. Did you pursue asking the courts for visitation? What was your experience like? I want to have a healthy and happy relationship with my Grandson. Any advice for a heart broken first time Grandma?
I need help with my grandchildren. I raised my grandsons for 5 almost 6 yrs. One day they never came back from their dads. I was very open they’d see their dads every other weekend. I had them in Kamehameha school, pau ahi scholarships, and what ever I could do for them. They were at seagulls preschools. The day I found out they weren’t coming back I was crushed. My daughter decided they would stay with their dad. All this time the dad didn’t want to have them come. When my daughter first got pregnant, the babies daddy and his mother and father took my then 17 year old, daughter to planned parenthood to abort the baby. Just by chance, they were not able to because my child had no medical card. Once I got to the office, I told her you decide what you want with your body. Well 5 month after baby was born the babies dads parents never knew. They did a number on the relationship. They then had a second boy, baby at 3 days old was at pearl ridge mall waking around catching germs. I scolded the both of them once they got home. Since then the babes daddy was distant and still wanting to party, he and my daughter became distant, and eventually separated. I kept the peace as much as possible. My daughter then had another child from another guy, her first crush. This was a funny story til today. That didn’t last so again I stepped in and kept the peace so the siblings were together and the families were involved. Again my daughter met another guy and had baby number 4. This guy was a big fanatic, he hated me. Til this day I have been kept away from my granddaughter. He has tried to get a Temporary Restraining Order, on me. He still tells my daughter that he does not want my granddaughter around me. My idea of all this mess was to keep the siblings together, always and forever. But the fathers and their family don’t see it that way. Everyone seems to want whats best for themselves. My daughter is now pregnant again, and that relationship has ended with no strings attached. I’d like to know what to do? I miss my grandsons, I have all the children lined up for Kam school, and major funding, then they were taken away. I need help please. I’m so hurt and angry. I want the grand-babies to be together. When they are not together they miss each other so much.
I live in CO, my grandchildren live in Maui, Hawaii (HI). I would like to talk to them on the phone, Skype, or have a letter or card from them. My son and daughter-in-law have denied this for 2-1/2 years. When I contacted the state of Hawaii, they told me grandparents didn’t have rights. Is there anything that can be done to allow communication between me and my grandchildren? Thank you.
Same thing with me. I’m on the NE coast and my grandson is in Hawaii. I may never get to meet him because I don’t have the money to go to Hawaii. It would be nice to get pictures/phone calls. My son and his wife are going through a divorce and he is not speaking to me. I am going to get a lawyer.
My son and his wife are going through a divorce. I wish that I could be a part of this child’s life. My son is not easy to get along with, and we are not speaking to each other right now. His soon to be ex-wife doesn’t like me just because I’m his mother. Its a bad situation and a short term marriage. She got pregnant, they got married and didn’t even make it a year. I just want to be a part of my grandsons life. I would like to get photo’s, talk on the phone, and maybe visit him. He is 2-1/2 years old. I’m scared that I’ve reached a dead end. 🙁
Very complicating situation. My husband’s son had a child with a friend, with benefits. He never loved her. They’ve lived together, hand to mouth, one step short of homeless. He has in the past been arrested and convicted for sexual misconduct with a minor, which he has to register where ever he lives, a couple DUI’s, two cases of domestic violence with the child’s mother, and is a known Meth user since he was a teenager.
The mother is on medication for anxiety and depression. She appears to be an alcoholic, and has admitted to meth use as well. She has a large lump on her neck, which the doctor said could possibly be cancer. All that being said, she appears to be the more responsible parent. Which doesn’t say much. Her ex-husband took custody of her daughter that lives in North Carolina, years ago.
A couple months ago our grandson’s father left the big Island because there is a warrant out for his arrest. The mother lives in a shack in the jungle, about 100 sq ft. Both were and are unemployable. The mother has no working skills. She will be off welfare next year when the child turns five. We were relieved to know that he left and there would be no more beatings and violence around the little boy. But now, she took in another man, with his daughter, with a sob story, and gives him money. His daughter, who is 16, was arrested for sexually molesting a 10-year-old child back in Arizona. They are all now living in that 100 square-foot shack and sleeping on the floor. We are devastated that she took in another problem. We have tried to help her out in every way we could to help her straighten out her life. We are very concerned that our grandchild is growing up around meth use, alcoholism, and maybe another episode of domestic violence to start again as well as living with a known child molester. Being that she seems to attract men that abuse her. It would be very hard to prove that this new man uses meth. He doesn’t have a record. I checked. We’re concerned if we went for custody, all these allegations and information that we know of cannot be proved. What to do?