Hawaii No Fault Divorce

The Hawaii Divorce Law does not support the concept of Joint Petition or Simplified Dissolution process. The law merely names one divorcing partner as the Plaintiff and the other as the Defendant. The Plaintiff files the complaint in the court and this is served to the Defendant.

Grounds of Hawaii No Fault Divorce

• Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage
• Living separate. For this one of the following conditions must be met
  • The divorcing partners must have resided apart and separate as per a Decree of Separation from bed and board. This decree must be entered by any court of law that has competent jurisdiction. No reconciliation must have taken place after the term of separation has been complete.
  • Any court of law with competent jurisdiction must have entered a Decree of Separate Maintenance as per which the divorcing partners must have resided apart and separate for a duration of 2 years or more. During this time span, no reconciliation must have taken place.
  • Immediately prior to the application, the divorcing partners must have resided apart and separate continuously for a minimum span of 2 years. When the application has been made, there must be no reasonable probability that cohabitation would resume. The Court is of the opinion that in the specific scenario of the case, the divorce complaint of the Plaintiff would not prove oppressive or harsh to the Defendant or opposite to public interest.

Residency requirements of Hawaii No Fault Divorce

As per the laws of this state, minimum one divorcing partner must have resided in this state for minimum 6 months prior to the date of filing of the divorce papers. Moreover, any one divorcing partner must have resided in the specific circuit in which the divorce papers are filed for minimum 3 months.

Procedure of Hawaii Uncontested No Fault Divorce

• There is no requirement of a period of separation.
• As the divorcing partners agree with each other regarding all the issues of divorce, there is no necessity of making a court appearance.
• Evidence is permissible by way of an affidavit.
• The divorce forms can be viewed on www.courts.state.hi.us, which is a judicial website. On the top of the menu, the divorcing partner must click on "forms" and further click on "Oahu-Family Court." Now, it is possible to view a list of selections comprising of instructions for filing and divorce forms. If children are involved in the divorce, then on this page, one can refer to the Hawaii Child Support Guidelines and Online calculation worksheet.
• After all the forms have been filed, the filing fee has to be paid. As of 2008, this filing fee is 225 USD with children (inclusive of stepchildren) and 175 USD without children.
• The duration for getting a divorce ranges from 8 weeks to 1 year.
• After the due papers have been filed, a "review date" is allocated by the court to the Plaintiff. On this date, the paperwork is reviewed by the Judge and the divorce is granted. One or two weeks after the review date, the divorce becomes effective.

Divorce Papers