Bill Text: HI SB618 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Parentage.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-12-10 - Carried over to 2022 Regular Session. [SB618 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-SB618-Introduced.html
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
618 |
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to parentage.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that existing parentage laws reflect outdated, cisheteronormative concepts of families, parenthood, and parental rights.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to amend the Uniform Parentage Act to allow non-gestational partners of any gender identity to voluntarily establish parentage at the time of a child's birth.
SECTION 2. Section 584-3.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§584-3.5 Expedited process of [paternity.] parentage. (a) To
expedite the establishment of [paternity,] parentage, each public
and private birthing hospital or center and the department of health shall
provide unwed parents of any gender identity the opportunity to
voluntarily acknowledge the [paternity] parentage of a child
during the period immediately prior to or following the child's birth. The voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity]
parentage shall be in writing and shall consist of a single form signed
under oath by both the [natural mother and the natural father] gestational
parent and the non-gestational parent and signed by a witness. The voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity]
parentage form shall include the
social security number of each parent.
Prior to the signing of the voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity]
parentage form, designated staff members of such facilities shall
provide to both the [mother] gestational parent and the [alleged
father,] intended non-gestational parent, if [he is] the parents
are present at the facility:
(1) Written materials
regarding [paternity] the establishment[;] of parentage;
(2) Forms necessary to
voluntarily acknowledge [paternity;] parentage; and
(3) Oral, video, or
audio, and written descriptions of the alternatives to, the legal consequences
of, and the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging [paternity,] parentage,
including, if one parent is a minor, any right afforded due to minority status.
The completed voluntary acknowledgment forms shall
clearly identify the name and position of the staff member who provides
information to the parents regarding [paternity] the establishment[.]
of parentage. The provision by
designated staff members of the facility of the information required by this
section shall not constitute the unauthorized practice of law. Each facility shall send to the department of
health the original acknowledgment of [paternity] parentage
containing the social security numbers, if available, of both parents, with the
information required by the department of health so that the birth certificate
issued includes the name of the [legal father] non-gestational parent
of the child, which shall be promptly recorded by the department of health.
(b) The child support enforcement agency shall:
(1) Provide to any person or facility the necessary:
(A) Materials and
forms and a written description of the rights and responsibilities related to
voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity;] parentage; and
(B) Training,
guidance, and written instructions regarding voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity;]
parentage;
(2) Annually assess
each facility's [paternity] parentage establishment program; and
(3) Determine if a
voluntary acknowledgment has been filed with the department of health whenever
it receives an application for [paternity] parentage
establishment services.
(c)
Notwithstanding sections 338-17.7 and 338-18(b), the department of
health shall disclose to the child support enforcement agency, upon request,
all voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity] parentage forms on
file with the department of health.
(d) As used in this section:
"Agency" means the child support enforcement agency.
"Birthing center" means
any [facility outside a hospital] independent or hospital-affiliated facility
that provides maternity and perinatal health services.
"Birthing hospital" means any hospital with licensed obstetric-care units, any hospital licensed to provide obstetric services, or any licensed birthing center associated with a hospital.
"Facility" means a
birthing hospital [or a], birthing center[.], or home.
"Gender identity" means
a person's internal sense of being male, female, a gender different from the
gender assigned at birth, a transgender person, or neither male nor female.
"Gestational parent" means
the partner, of any gender identity, in a married or unmarried relationship who
gives birth to the child.
"Non-gestational parent"
means the partner, of any gender identity, in a married or unmarried relationship
with the gestational parent who establishes their co-parentage of the child with
the consent of the gestational parent; provided that neither partner is legally
married to another person at the time of the child's birth.
"Parentage" means a gender-neutral
understanding of maternity and paternity.
(e)
The signed voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity] parentage
shall constitute a legal finding of [paternity,] parentage,
subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the acknowledgment:
(1) Within sixty days of signature; or
(2) Before the date of an administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the child, including a proceeding to establish a support order to which the signatory is a party,
whichever is sooner.
(f)
Following the sixty-day period referred to in subsection (e), a signed
voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity] parentage may be
challenged in court only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of
fact, with the burden of proof upon the challenger. The legal responsibilities of any signatory
arising from the acknowledgment, including child support obligations, shall not
be suspended during the challenge, except for good cause shown.
(g)
The courts and office of child support hearings of this State shall give
full faith and credit to affidavits for the voluntary acknowledgment of [paternity]
parentage signed in any other state and these affidavits shall
constitute legal findings of paternity subject to subsections (e) and (f).
(h)
Judicial and administrative proceedings shall not be required or
permitted to ratify an unchallenged acknowledgment of [paternity.] parentage."
SECTION 3. Section 584-8.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§584-8.5[] Paternity] Parentage determinations from other states and territories. [Paternity] Parentage
determinations from other states and territories, whether established through
voluntary acknowledgment or through administrative or judicial processes, shall
be treated the same as a [paternity] parentage adjudication in
this State."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Uniform Parentage
Act; Expedited Process of Parentage
Description:
Amends the
Uniform Parentage Act to allow non-gestational partners to voluntarily establish
parentage of a child during the period immediately prior to or following the birth
of the child. Requires the State to recognize
parentage determinations from other states and territories.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.