WomensLaw serves and supports all survivors.

Legal Information: Hawaii

Custody

Laws current as of November 15, 2024

What does “legal custody” mean in Hawai‘i?

In Hawai‘i, legal custody means the relationship that is created by the judge’s order. It gives the child’s custodian:

  • the responsibility of having the child live with him/her;
  • the duty to protect, train, and discipline the child; and
  • the duty to provide the child with food, shelter, education, and ordinary medical care.1

Even if you have been given legal custody of your child, the other parent or a legal guardian may still have “residual parental rights and responsibilities.”1

1 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 571-2

Legal Information

© 2008–2025 WomensLaw.org is a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is funded in part through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). NNEDV is a 501©(3) non-profit organization; EIN 52-1973408.