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Legal Information: Hawaii

Restraining Orders

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Laws current as of September 19, 2025

I was granted temporary custody with my protective order. Will another state enforce this custody order?

If your protective order includes custody, visitation, or child support, these parts of the order can be enforced in any state. Law enforcement and courts must enforce your temporary custody order as long as it meets certain federal law standards.1 

However, before leaving the state, it is important to talk to a lawyer to make sure that:

  • your protective order meets federal standards; and
  • leaving the state would not violate any laws about parental kidnapping, also called custodial interference, or any other laws that your state may have regarding not removing a child from the state during a court case.

You can find contact information for legal assistance on our Hawai‘i Places that Help page.

1 18 U.S.C. § 2266

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