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HRS §338-17.5

How to get a court order for a delayed birth certificate

If your delayed birth certificate was turned down, you can ask a circuit court to set the facts of your birth. You must bring the official's rejection statement and all papers you already gave them. The court will hold a hearing and, if it finds you were born in Hawaii, will order a birth record.

everyone

The statute, as written — Judicial procedure to establish facts of birth

(a) If a delayed certificate of birth is rejected under section 338-16, a petition may be filed with the circuit court for an order establishing a record of the date and place of the birth and the parentage of the person whose birth is to be registered. (b) The petition shall be accompanied by a statement of the registration official made in accordance with section 338-16(d) and all documentary evidence which was submitted to the registration official in support of such registration. (c) The court shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition and shall give the registration official who refused to register the petitioner's delayed certificate of birth fifteen days' notice of said hearing. Such official, or the official's authorized representative, may appear and testify in the proceeding. (d) If the court from the evidence presented finds that the person for whom a delayed certificate of birth is sought was born in this State, it shall make findings as to the place and date of birth, parentage, and such other findings as the case may require and shall issue an order to establish a record of birth. (e) The clerk of the court shall forward a copy of the order to the state registrar of vital statistics not later than the 10th day of the calendar month following the month in which it was entered. Such order shall be registered by the state registrar of vital statistics in accordance with section 338-13.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

Sections this one refers to

§338-16 Late and altered birth certificates

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.