HI HB163

Amends Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 571-46 to remove grandparents from the general visitation provision, which previously allowed visitation if detrimental to the child's best interests.

Creates new constitutional standards for grandparent visitation under Section 571-46.3 requiring courts to find: (1) Hawaii is the child's home state, (2) grandparent visitation is in the child's best interest, and (3) denial of grandparent visitation would cause significant harm to the child.

Establishes a rebuttable presumption that a parent's decision regarding grandparent visitation is in the child's best interest, which can only be overcome by preponderance of evidence showing significant harm to the child.

Requires courts awarding grandparent visitation to apply the same standards, considerations, and procedures used for parent visitation under Section 571-46.

Effective July 1, 2017; implements constitutionally-sound standards following the Hawaii Supreme Court's 2007 decision in Doe v. Doe that struck down the previous grandparent visitation statute.