We provide unlimited support for all of our customers through our Hawaii Online Divorce Help Center. We take great pride in being able to respond to our customers in a "human" to "human" approach (as you can see, we do not hide our toll free number (888) 665-6782). We understand the need a customer may have to talk to a person rather than the typical automated voice or e-mail support system. Please keep in mind that we are not lawyers and we do not give out legal advice. If you need legal advice regarding your uncontested divorce in Hawaii, we recommend that you contact a lawyer in your area.

• Can I file for my divorce in the State of Hawaii?
• Will Hawaii 3StepDivorce™ work in my situation?
• Does Hawaii 3StepDivorce™ work if I have children?
• Do I need a lawyer to file for divorce in Hawaii?
• What are the residency requirements for a Hawaii divorce?
• Must I prove that I am a resident of Hawaii in order to file for my divorce?
• What if my spouse does not live in Hawaii?
• What are the grounds for filing a divorce in Hawaii?
• How long does a divorce take in Hawaii?
• Do I have to appear in court?
• After my divorce, how long do I have to wait in Hawaii before I can remarry?
• Does Hawaii permit a name change as part of the divorce?
• Does Hawaii 3StepDivorce™ address the division of our property and debt?
• Will I be able to address our retirement accounts?
• What about the marital home?
• Will I be able to address spousal support?
• Does Hawaii require child support?
• How do I calculate how much child support I owe?
• Can I deviate from the Hawaii child support guideline?
• How do I know when I can deviate from the Hawaii child support guidelines?
• In Hawaii, can child support be modified after the divorce?
• In Hawaii, can child custody arrangements be modified after the divorce?
• Can we customize our child custody arrangements?
• Can we specify our visitation/parenting time schedule?
• In Hawaii, do any or all of the divorce documents need to be notarized?
• Do my spouse and I have to sign and/or notarize the documents at the same time and/or place?
• In Hawaii, where do I file?
• What is the filing fee in Hawaii?
• How can the fees be waived?
• Can I stop a divorce in Hawaii once I sign up?
• What documents do I receive with my Hawaii 3StepDivorce™ account?

In almost all cases, you file for a divorce in the state where you reside. This means that if you are a resident of Hawaii, you file in Hawaii and are governed by Hawaii's divorce laws even if you were married, for example, in California.

You must meet Hawaii's residency requirement for a Hawaii court to have jurisdiction over your divorce.

3StepDivorce™ works as long as both you and your spouse agree about everything, and both of you are willing to sign the divorce paperwork.

You do not have to sign the papers together, at the same time and place, but the Hawaii 3StepDivorce™ requires both spouses to sign.

It sure does. The Hawaii 3StepDivorce™ allows you to address all issues regarding children, including but not limited to, physical and legal custody, visitation and support, care, health insurance and tax deductions.

Thousands of people divorce in Hawaii every year without hiring a lawyer.

When spouses cannot agree about the terms and conditions of their divorce, they sometimes end up in court where a judge makes decisions for them. This is called a contested divorce, and hiring a lawyer is a good idea in this case.

When a case is uncontested and both parties are willing to sign, (when you and you spouse agree about everything) filing your own divorce is a common choice in order to cut down legal expenses.

The residency requirements for a divorce in Hawaii are as follows:

Either spouse must live in Hawaii for six continuous months to file for divorce.

Yes. The divorce paperwork requires a signed authentication that you have been a resident of Hawaii for at least the past six months.

This is a state law.

Signing false statements is perjury.

If the court requires proof for some reason, typically a Hawaii driver's license or state identification is sufficient. An affidavit of a corroborating witness testifying about your residency also works.

Your spouse does not need to live in Hawaii to use 3StepDivorce™. After you have printed all the divorce paperwork, you simply mail the documents to your spouse and he or she signs them. After your spouse returns them, you file in your local county court.

Very often divorcing spouses live in different states.

The grounds for divorce in Hawaii are as follows:

1) The marriage is irretrievably broken;

2) The parties have lived separate and apart under a separation agreement entered by any competent jurisdiction, the term of the separation has expired, and no reconciliation has been effected;

3) The parties have lived separate and apart for two years or more under a decree of separate maintenance entered by any court of competent jurisdiction, and no reconciliation has been effected;

4) The parties have lived separate and apart for a continuous period of two years [and] there is no reasonable likelihood that cohabitation will be resumed, and the court is satisfied that it would not be harsh and oppressive to the Defendant to a divorce on this ground on the complaint of the Plaintiff.

Once the divorce paperwork has been filed in court, it usually takes 30 to 90 days for a divorce to be final. The start to finish time of the divorce may vary depending on the caseload of the court and the availability of judges to sign the final Decree of Divorce.

3StepDivorce™ saves time because all lengthy delivery times are eliminated when you print your documents from your computer. You control revisions and reprintings as necessary.

In Hawaii, a divorce hearing is not typically required. If there are children involved, a short hearing may be required (it is always up to a judge), generally about 15 minutes, gives the court an opportunity to make certain that you understand the parameters of custody, visitation and support that are ordered as part of your divorce.

If there are no children, the process in very streamlined. Since you and your spouse are in agreement, there is nothing for the court to decide.

There is no mandatory waiting period in Hawaii.

Yes. 3StepDivorce™ includes a protocol for the wife to take back her former or birth name as part of the filing. It is easier to effect a name change during the divorce rather than after the divorce is finalized.

Separate and marital property and debt is identified and addressed in your 3StepDivorce™ account. A series of questions itemizes property and debt, dividing and allocating both according to what you and your spouse have agreed to. The answers become part of the divorce documents, so it is clear to you, your spouse and the court how assets and liabilities have been divided.

Yes. You answer a few questions dealing with individual retirement accounts. You have the option of waiving rights to each other's account(s), or dividing any marital portion of an account by a specific percentage or a dollar amount.

Once again, a few questions inside your account deal with the disposition of the marital home. All possible scenarios are covered -- sale, planned sale, transfer from one spouse to the other, and co-ownership.

A few questions in your account deal with temporary or permanent spousal support. Rights to spousal support may be waived, or a couple can agree to a specific amount for a set period of time. These questions define and limit the parameters of the desired spousal support, which often terminates upon remarriage or cohabitation.

Hawaii requires that a support order be put in place for all minor children.

3StepDivorce™ provides the Hawaii Child Support Guideline Worksheet, so you can easily calculate the state's recommendation for monthly support, but you have the option of taking these recommendations under advisement. The courts realize that you and your spouse know your situation better than they do, so they may approve any reasonable support amount, even if it is different from the one on the state worksheet.

We provide Hawaii Child Support Worksheets inside your account. These worksheets make it very easy to calculate a monthly support amount. The support calculation is based on a number of variables, but the primary one is income.

Once you have calculated the amount, you and your spouse decide if you want to deviate from it and the reasons for doing so.

Yes. Once you and your spouse agree to a monthly child support amount, a judge reviews your decision. He or she will accept it if it seems reasonable. However, if it seems too high or too low, the judge will want an explanation why the two of you came to amount so much at variance from the state guidelines. Your explanation and reasons for it determine whether or not the judge accepts your proposed child support amount.

Hawaii, in addition to applying the Percentage of Income Formula to calculate support, also considers the following factors: 1) financial resources of the parties; 2) the ability of the party seeking support and maintenance to meet his or her needs independently; 3) the length of the marriage; 4) the standard of living during the marriage; 5) the age of the parents; 6) the physical and emotional condition of the parties; 7) the usual occupation of the parties during the marriage; 8) the vocational skills and employability of the party seeking support and maintenance; 9) "other factors which measure the financial condition" of the parties.

Yes. Child support can be modified based on a change in circumstances. In Hawaii, a change in circumstances means "a significant change in circumstances," generally, changes "not considered when the original judgment was entered" that are "permanent and substantial" and/or "affect one's current standard of living."

Yes. Child custody arrangements can be modified when, for example, they break down because of the conduct of one of the former spouses.

Yes. The terms and conditions of both sole and joint/shared custody are defined by you and your spouse.

Yes. You can either use a standard schedule that we provide in your account, or you can use our option to customize your own.

Yes. Some of the divorce papers need to be notarized. The step-by-step filing instructions explain who signs what and whether a particular document needs to be notarized. The documents requiring notarization contain notary clauses below individual signature lines.

No. If desired, each of you may sign and/or notarize a document at a different time and/or place.

As mentioned, very frequently spouses sign and notarize the documents at different times and places because they live apart in different states. This happens often, for example, when one of them has moved or is in the military.

In Hawaii, the divorce papers are filed in the Family Court, which is the local county courthouse and which accepts the divorce filing. The divorce documents are submitted to the Clerk of the Courts. You pay a filing fee, and the clerk assigns the case a case number.

In Hawaii, the fees vary by county. Roughly the fees range from $100 to $225, depending upon the case. If you want to know the exact amount, you can call the courthouse and ask.

Filing fees underwrite the cost of the court system, but in the case of indigent petitioners these fees may be waived.

Normally, an indigent petitioner completes a very short form at the time of filing. This form asks the court to waive the fees because of financial hardship.

Yes. If you have signed up but not filed any divorce papers, then nothing must be done. If you have initiated the action by filing the Complaint for Divorce, your case can be dismissed by petitioning the court to do so. Normally, this can only be done by the filing spouse and must be done in writing.

Often the clerk of the court can help a person remove a case from the court docket.

The Hawaii 3StepDivorce™ includes the following documents:

- Hawaii Filing Instructions
- Matrimonial Action Information Sheet
- Complaint for Divorce
- Marital Settlement Agreement
- Schedule for Visitation/Parenting Time of Minor Children
- Supplemental Affidavit Re: Direct Payment of Child Support
- Simplified Child Support Guidelines Worksheet
- Simplified Child Support Calculation Table
- Child Support Guidelines Worksheet for Joint Custody/Extensive
Visitation
- Child Support Exceptional Circumstances Form
- Child Support Guidelines-Income Table
- Notice to Attend Kids First (example only-should be obtained from the clerk)
- Income and Expenses Statement (Plaintiff)
- Income and Expenses Statement (Defendant)
- Affidavit of Plaintiff
- Appearance and Waiver
- Decree of Divorce