Fisher v. Fisher, 111 Haw. 41

Summary

The Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi reviewed a custody and relocation dispute involving a primary parent in Hawaiʻi and a non-primary parent who relocated to Virginia for military service. The court held that the children’s best interests govern relocation decisions and upheld the relocation determination, while vacating tie-breaking authority granted to the father and striking the designation of Virginia as the children’s primary residence.

Holdings

1. The family court did not err in finding that relocation to Virginia was in the children's best interests because substantial evidence supported that determination.
2. Hawaiʻi law does not require a presumptive preference or priority for continuity of care by the primary caretaker, residential stability, or educational stability; no single factor has presumptive paramount weight in determining the children's best interests.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the family court erred in determining that relocation of the children from Hawaiʻi to Virginia was in their best interests.
2. Whether Hawaiʻi relocation cases require a presumptive preference for continuity of care by the primary caretaker or stability in the children's existing residential and educational arrangements.
3. Whether the family court's relocation determination was supported by substantial evidence and consistent with Hawaiʻi precedent.

Disposition

affirmed