Source: https://www.maritallaws.com/states/hawaii/child-support
Timestamp: 2020-01-23 05:43:06
Document Index: 440068553

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 571', '§ 576', '§571', '§4', '§584', '§584', '§584', '§576', '§2', '§1', '§7', '§1', '§1', '§1', '§28', '§2', '§303']

Hawaii Child Support Laws - Support Calculation, Enforcement, and More
Hawaii Child Support Guide :: Table of Contents
Hawaii Child Support FAQ
Hawaii Child Support Law Text
Child support is handled on a state level, and Hawaii has a set of specific child support guidelines. On this page you can learn about how child support is calculated in Hawaii, how custody split and extraordinary costs affect child support payments, and more.
Hawaii Child Support Court Considerations Table
Hawaii Child Support Law Summary
Hawaii uses the "income share" method for calculating child support payments, which is designed to ensure that both the custodial and non-custodial parents contribute to their child's upkeep.
Hawaii's child support formula directly accounts for parents who share custody of a child, and support payment amounts are connected to the custody split. Other special situations accounted for under Hawaii's child support law include childcare costs and extraordinary medical costs. These costs may be additions to the basic Hawaii child support order.
Case Notes Agreement to pay all post-high school education expenses is not an exceptional circumstance to allow lower child support payments than the specified guidelines.
Guidelines do not take priority before the parties' agreement to pay more than the guidelines specify, however they do take priority before the parties' agreements to pay less.
Once the court establishes the amount of child support required to be paid by a parent, the court shall use the guidelines established, unless the circumstances need it to be an exception that would warrant departure.
Neither costs for a second vehicle or preschool costs of another child of the parent without custody supported a finding of a circumstance of exception.
Put in place to simplify child support calculations as much as possible
Put in place ensuring that at least the child benefits from the income and resources of the obligor parent on the same basis in comparison to any other child of the obligor parent
Sent to the agency and all family court judges when available or updated, and will be used by the judges in establishing each child support order.
Overtime and cost of living allowance may be deducted where appropriate.
The earning potential, reasonable necessities, and borrowing capacity of both parents
how much public assistance would be paid for the child under the needs established by the department
Other dependents under the obligor parent
incentives for both parents to work
To balance the standard of living of both the parents and child, avoiding putting any party below the poverty level
To avoid huge, unfair changes in either parent's income
If any obligee parent who is mentally and physically able to work, remains at home and does not work 30 hours or less of weekly earnings at the minimum wage may be imputed to that parent's income.
The parent who is responsible, or possesses custody will not be precluded from petitioning the family court or the child support enforcement agency to review and adjust the child support order more than once in a three-year period if the second or subsequent request is supported by proof of a significant change in circumstances.
Hawaii Child Support Calculation Formula Methods
Child support can be arranged out of court by a mutual support agreement between the parents, or can be decided in Hawaii family court through a child support order. In Hawaii, a number of factors are taken into account when determining the amount of child support to be paid in court. Here is an explanation of the two most common methods used to calculate basic child support amounts.
Hawaii does use the income share method to calculate child support
Hawaii does not use the percentage of income method to calculate child support
Hawaii Child Support Frequently Asked Questions
How does having shared custody of the child affect child support in Hawaii?
How are extraordinary medical costs treated by child support in Hawaii?
How are child care costs treated by child support in Hawaii?
Does child support cover college education expenses in Hawaii?
How is child support enforced in Hawaii?
How are child support payments taxed in Hawaii?
Hawaii law accounts for shared custody of a child directly in the child support formula used to calculate payment amounts. This means that, in cases where custody is shared, the amount of child support paid by the paying parent will be reduced according to the amount of time they have custody of the child.
Hawaii has specialized guidelines for the sharing of a child's extraordinary medical care costs that are separate from, and in addition to, basic child support payments. Extraordinary medical costs are generally costs generated by things such as illness, hospital visits, or costly procedures such as getting braces.
Due to the high costs of child care for a single payment, Hawaii has specialized guidelines that consider child care costs separately from the general costs of raising a child for the purposes of calculating child support payments.
While the state of Hawaii has no explicit requirement for college expenses to be covered under child support, support for college expense by the non-custodial parent may be voluntarily agreed to by both parties, after which it is contractually enforceable.
In the state of Hawaii, child support is enforced by the state child support agency. The state agency handles the location of non-custodial parents, enforcement of support orders, and the handling of unpaid child support arrears.
Child support arrears are the amount of child support that is delinquent, or unpaid, by the noncustodial parent to the custodial parent. Child support arrears may be collected by the state through wage garnishment, bank levy. withholding of Hawaii welfare benefits, or other collection methods.
Under IRS guidelines, the recepient of child support does not need to pay federal tax on child support payments, and the payer of child support cannot deduct their child support payments. This differs from the federal taxation of alimony payments, which are treated as taxable income by the receiver and are deductible by the payor. Hawaii tax law may vary on tax treatment of child support.
HAW. REV. STAT. § 571-52.5 HAW. REV. STAT. § 576D-7
[§571-52.5] Guidelines to determine child support amounts. When the court establishes or modifies the amount of child support required to be paid by a parent, the court shall use the guidelines established under section 576D-7, except when exceptional circumstances warrant departure. [L 1986, c 332, pt of §4]
Agreement to pay all post-high school education expenses is not an exceptional circumstance allowing lower child support payment than specified in guidelines; guidelines do not take precedence over the parties' agreement to pay more than the guidelines specify, but they do take precedence over the parties' agreements to pay less. 7 H. App. 221, 751 P.2d 93.
Whether facts constitute exceptional circumstances is a question of law. 7 H. App. 345, 764 P.2d 1250.
Neither expenses for a second vehicle nor preschool expenses of another child of non-custodial obligor parent supported a finding of exceptional circumstance. 88 H. 456 (App.), 967 P.2d 653.
Assuming arguendo that this section and §584-15 embrace the same subject matter, it cannot be said as a matter of statutory construction that this section ousts §584-15 in the matter of past child support; §584-15(d) affords the court discretion to limit past child support to a proportion of the expenses already incurred on behalf of the child that it deems just. 98 H. 58 (App.), 41 P.3d 720.
With the consent of the payor-parent, the family court is authorized to enter an order barring the payor-parent, for a period of three years, from seeking a reduction in court-ordered child support. 101 H. 37 (App.), 61 P.3d 548.
Family court was not authorized to delegate to the child support enforcement agency the duty of deciding the dollar amount of child support to be paid. 112 H. 225 (App.), 145 P.3d 768.
§576D-7 Guidelines in establishing amount of child support. (a) The family court, in consultation with the agency, shall establish guidelines to establish the amount of child support when an order for support is sought or being modified under this chapter. The guidelines shall be based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation.
(d) The establishment of the guidelines or the adoption of any modifications made to the guidelines set forth in this section may constitute a change in circumstances sufficient to permit review of the support order. A material change of circumstances will be presumed if support as calculated pursuant to the guidelines is either ten per cent greater or less than the support amount in the outstanding support order. The most current guidelines shall be used to calculate the amount of the child support obligation.
(e) The responsible or custodial parent for which child support has previously been ordered shall have a right to petition the family court or the child support enforcement agency not more than once every three years for review and adjustment of the child support order without having to show a change in circumstances. The responsible or custodial parent shall not be precluded from petitioning the family court or the child support enforcement agency for review and adjustment of the child support order more than once in any three-year period if the second or subsequent request is supported by proof of a substantial or material change of circumstances. [L 1986, c 332, pt of §2; am L 1987, c 305, §1; am L 1990, c 176, §7; am L 1991, c 216, §1; am L 1992, c 115, §1 and c 246, §1; am L 1997, c 293, §28 and c 294, §2]
Hawaii's Statewide Child Support Guidelines. 14 HBJ 9 (2011).
Family court's discretion in ordering child support was substantially reduced by guidelines. 7 H. App. 171, 749 P.2d 478.
Noncustodial parent's current financial situation should have been considered. 8 H. App. 446, 808 P.2d 1279.
Amended child support guidelines established pursuant to section include categories of primary child support, standard of living adjustment, and private education expense. 9 H. App. 184, 828 P.2d 1291.
Whether net income earned by an adult-student-son or daughter is "exceptional circumstance", discussed. 86 H. 368 (App.), 949 P.2d 208.
In the case of a self-employed parent, there should be careful scrutiny by agency/courts as to the reasonableness and appropriateness of business decisions that lessen the amount of income available for child support. 87 H. 178 (App.), 953 P.2d 209.
Where mother had a right to petition the child support enforcement agency (CSEA) for a review of the child support amount, pursuant to subsection (e) and 45 C.F.R. §§303.2(b), 303.4(c), 303.8 and 302.33, family court abused its discretion by ordering CSEA to close its case on father. 118 H. 268 (App.), 188 P.3d 782 (2008).
Source: http://www.maritallaws.com/states/hawaii/child-support