STAND. COM. REP. NO. 147

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 422

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 422 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD VISITATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Delete language awarding grandparents reasonable visitation rights from section 571-46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the criteria and procedure in awarding custody and visitation; and

 

     (2)  Add language to section 571-46.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, regarding grandparents' visitation rights, that:

 

          (A)  Requires the courts to make a finding that awarding grandparent visitation is in the best interest of the child and denial of grandparent visitation would cause actual or potential harm to the child;

 

          (B)  Establishes a rebuttable presumption that a parent's decision regarding visitation is in the best interest of the child, which may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence that denial of reasonable grandparent visitation rights would cause actual or potential harm to the child;

 

          (C)  Clarifies the court shall be guided by all standards, considerations, and procedures for parent visitation under section 571-46, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

          (D)  Clarifies if a grandparent or grandparents of a child violate the terms and conditions of an order awarding reasonable visitation rights, the grandparent or grandparents shall be subject to sanctions or contempt of court.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Family Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

 

     Your Committee finds that grandparents are taking on increasing responsibilities in helping to raise their grandchildren, especially when the children's own parents are unable or unwilling to do so as a result of a lack of financial self-sufficiency, abandonment, mental disorder, minor status, substance abuse, or incarceration.  Grandparents may help foster a child's healthy emotional and psychological development, further a child's education, and positively influence a child's well-being.  This measure recognizes the benefits and importance of having grandparents be a part of a child's life by allowing the family court to award reasonable visitation rights to a grandparent if reasonable visitation is in the best interest of the child and denial of visitation could cause actual or potential harm to the child.

 

     Your Committee notes the comments submitted in written testimony by the Department of the Attorney General that the court in Doe v. Doe, 116 Hawaii 323 (2007) held that the standard to be used in awarding grandparent visitation is a showing that a denial of grandparent visitation would cause significant, rather than actual or potential, harm to the child.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting section 2, thereby reinstating language awarding grandparents reasonable visitation rights under section 571-46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to the criteria and procedure in awarding custody and visitation;

 

     (2)  Adopting the language suggested by the Department of the Attorney General that clarifies that the denial of grandparent visitation would cause significant, rather than actual or potential, harm to the child;

 

     (3)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 422, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 422, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair