§577-7 - Parents' control and duties.
§577-7 Parents' control and duties.
(a) Parents or, in case they are both deceased, guardians, legally appointed,
shall have control over the conduct and education of their minor children.
They shall have the right, at all times, to recover the physical custody of
their children by habeas corpus. All parents and guardians shall provide, to
the best of their abilities, for the discipline, support, and education of
their children.
(b) To the extent that the minor child has a
beneficial interest in the income or principal of any trust which is applied
for such purposes, parents or guardians shall not be required to pay the costs
of registration, tuition, books, room and board, and other expenses incurred in
connection with the attendance of a minor child at any private grammar,
secondary, industrial arts or trade school, or at any college or university,
whether or not the college or university is a private institution or is
maintained by a state or any subdivision thereof. The power of the family court
under sections 580-47 and 580-74 to compel the parties to a divorce or
separation to provide for the education of a minor or an adult child shall not
be limited by any provision of this subsection. [L 1864, p 47; RL 1925, §3045;
am L 1931, c 77, §3; RL 1935, §4513; RL 1945, §12264; RL 1955, §330-5; HRS
§577-7; am L 1975, c 77, §1(2); am L 1982, c 84, §1]
Case Notes
Applied in allocating to the mother damages for child's loss
of support. 245 F. Supp. 981, 1014, aff'd 381 F.2d 965.
Where parents voluntarily parted and later seek recovery of
their child, the reasonable wishes of the child will have controlling
influence. 6 H. 386.
Parents are legal, proper and sole custodians of their
children until right forfeited. 26 H. 433.
In deciding question between divorced parents as to custody
of child, paramount consideration is welfare of child, technical rights not
controlling. 26 H. 465; 27 H. 742; 29 H. 85. See 32 H. 731.
Duty to support and right to service under §577-3 reciprocal
and correlative. 27 H. 671; 32 H. 608.
Wrongful death action of death of child, services, recovery.
37 H. 571.
Court has jurisdiction in equity to award support to child in
child's action against parent. 49 H. 200, 412 P.2d 638 (decided before family
court established by chapter 571).
Obligation enforceable in equitable action by child against
parent. 49 H. 200, 209, 412 P.2d 638.
Duty imposed on parents by section to provide for support of
their children includes reasonably necessary and available medical services.
73 H. 236, 831 P.2d 924.
The "physical harm" encompassed in the definition
of family violence in §571-2 would not preclude a parent's right to use force
to discipline a child as permitted by §703-309(1), and duty to discipline a
child under subsection (a). 88 H. 200 (App.), 965 P.2d 133.
Cited: 45 H. 69, 72, 361 P.2d 1054.