The Rights of Unmarried Parents - Hawaii

Date: June 2022

Definitions

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 584-4

A person is presumed to be the natural other parent of a child if any of the following apply:

  • The child's parents are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage or within 300 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, divorce, or a decree of separation.
  • Before the child's birth, the child's parents have attempted to marry each other in apparent compliance with the law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and either of the following apply:
    • If the attempted marriage could be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born during the attempted marriage or within 300 days after its termination.
    • If the attempted marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 300 days after the termination of cohabitation.
  • After the child's birth, the child's parents have married or attempted to marry each other, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and any of the following apply:
    • The other parent has acknowledged parentage of the child in a writing filed with the Department of Health.
    • The other parent consents to be named as the child's parent on the child's birth certificate.
    • The other parent is obligated to support the child under a written voluntary promise or by a court order.
  • While the child is under the age of majority, the other parent receives the child into their home and openly holds out the child as their natural child.
  • Pursuant to § 584-11, the person submits to court-ordered genetic testing, and the results do not exclude the possibility of their parentage of the child.
  • The other parent files a voluntary, written acknowledgment of parentage of the child with the department.

Use of Parentage Registries

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 584-3.5

To expedite the establishment of parentage, each public and private birthing hospital or center and the department shall provide unwed parents the opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge the parentage of a child during the period immediately prior to or following the child's birth. The voluntary acknowledgment of parentage shall be in writing and shall consist of a single form signed under oath by both parents and signed by a witness.

Prior to the signing of the voluntary acknowledgment of parentage form, designated staff members of such facilities shall provide the following to both parents, if the other parent is present at the facility:

  • Written materials regarding parentage establishment
  • Forms necessary to voluntarily acknowledge parentage
  • Oral, video, or audio, and written descriptions of the alternatives to, the legal consequences of, and the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging parentage, including, if one parent is a minor, any right afforded due to minority status

Judicial and administrative proceedings shall not be required or permitted to ratify an unchallenged acknowledgment of parentage.

Alternate Means to Establish Parentage

Citation: Rev. Stat. §§ 584-6(a); 584-12; 584-15(a)

Any of the following persons may file an action for the purpose of declaring the existence or nonexistence of the father and child relationship:

  • A child or guardian ad litem of the child
  • The child's birth parent, whether married or unmarried at the time the child was conceived
  • A person alleged to be the other parent
  • A presumed other parent, as defined in § 584-4
  • The child support enforcement agency

Evidence relating to parentage may include any of the following:

  • Evidence of sexual intercourse between the birth and other parents at any possible time of conception
  • An expert's opinion concerning the statistical probability of the alleged other parent's parentage based upon the duration of the birth parent's pregnancy
  • Genetic test results, including blood test results, weighted in accordance with evidence, if available, of the statistical probability of the alleged other parent's parentage
  • Medical or anthropological evidence relating to the alleged other parent's parentage of the child based on tests performed by experts
  • A voluntary, written acknowledgment of parentage
  • Bills for pregnancy and childbirth, including medical insurance premiums covering this period and genetic testing
  • Evidence of consent to an artificial insemination procedure that resulted in the birth of the child
  • All other evidence relevant to the issue of parentage of the child

The judgment or order of the court determining the existence or nonexistence of the parent and child relationship shall be determinative for all purposes.

Required Information

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 584-3.5

The voluntary acknowledgment of parentage form shall include the Social Security number of each parent. The completed voluntary acknowledgment forms shall also clearly identify the name and position of the staff member who provides information to the parents regarding paternity establishment.

Each facility shall send to the Department of Health the original acknowledgment of parentage containing the Social Security numbers, if available, of both parents, with the information required by the department so that the birth certificate issued includes the name of the legal other parent of the child.

Revocation of Claim to Parentage

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 584-3.5

The signed voluntary acknowledgment of parentage shall constitute a legal finding of parentage, subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the acknowledgment within the earlier of either of the following:

  • Sixty days of signature
  • Before the date of an administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the child, including a proceeding to establish a support order to which the signatory is a party

Following the 60-day recission period , a signed voluntary acknowledgment of parentage may be challenged in court based only on fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the challenger. The legal responsibilities of any signatory arising from the acknowledgment, including child support obligations, shall not be suspended during the challenge, except for good cause shown.

Access to Information

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 584-3.5

Notwithstanding §§ 338-17.7 and 338-18(b), the Department of Health shall disclose to the child support enforcement agency, upon request, all voluntary acknowledgment of parentage forms on file with the department.