HRS §576B-313
Who pays court costs and fees in support cases
This section says who pays court costs and fees in interstate child support cases. The person asking for support does not have to pay filing fees. If the person owed support wins, the court can make the other side pay fees and expenses, but not the support agency. Courts can also order costs if someone requests a hearing just to delay.
courts
The statute, as written — Costs and fees
(a) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs. (b) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal of this State may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney's fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurred by the obligee and the obligee's witnesses. The tribunal may not assess fees, costs, or expenses against the obligee or the support enforcement agency of either the initiating or the responding state or foreign country, except as provided by other law. Attorney's fees may be taxed as costs, and may be ordered paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in the attorney's own name. Payment of support owed to the obligee has priority over fees, costs, and expenses. (c) The tribunal shall order the payment of costs and reasonable attorney's fees if it determines that a hearing was requested primarily for delay. In a proceeding under Article 6, a hearing is presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if a registered support order is confirmed or enforced without change.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.