Join us for the Annual Conference!

2023 Bar Convention - Family Law Seminar, All Day Live In-Person Only 
Please visit our 2023 Bar Convention & Annual Meeting website to browse all seminars during our 2023 Bar Convention & Annual Meeting Week: October 16-20!

To view other Bar Convention seminar registrations, please click here. 
With the Bar Convention week, you have the opportunity to attend more seminars!

Date and Time: Friday, October 20, 2023, 8:45am to 4:15pm (All Day)
                           Check-in/Continental Breakfast & Beverage Service: 8:15am to 8:45am
                           Opening Remarks with Judge Matthew Viola: 8:45am to 9:00am

Location: Japanese Cultural Center
                  2454 S. Beretania Street
                  Honolulu, Hawaii  96826

Credit: This seminar qualifies for 6 CLE Credit. 

Note: Deadline to register has been extended to Wednesday, October 4, 2023!
          And Early Bird Rate has been extended to Friday, September 22, 2023!
250 seats available!

Pricing:

Early Bird Rates (until September 22)
Hawaii County Bar Association (HCBA) Members: $110 (note: there is a $100 subsidy for HCBA registrants to be used for ONLY ONE Bar Convention seminar) 
Kauai Bar Association (KBA) Members:$110 (note: there is a $100 subsidy for KBA registrants to be used for ONLY ONE Bar Convention seminar)
Maui County Bar Association (MCBA) Members: TBD
West Hawaii Bar Association (WHBA) Members:$210 (note: only the first 20 WHBA registrants will be eligible to later receive $80 reimbursement for ONLY ONE Bar Convention seminar- you will be notified after the event if you are eligible).  
All Other HSBA Members: $210
Non-HSBA Members: $280*
Law School Student HSBA Bar Card Member: Free**
(Cost includes 6 CLE credits, continental breakfast, buffet lunch, afternoon snack and all-day beverage service)

Regular Rates (September 23 - October 4)
Hawaii County Bar Association (HCBA) Members: $160 (note: there is a $100 subsidy for HCBA registrants to be used for ONLY ONE Bar Convention seminar) 
Kauai Bar Association (KBA) Members:$160 (note: there is a $100 subsidy for KBA registrants to be used for ONLY ONE Bar Convention seminar)
Maui County Bar Association (MCBA) Members: TBD
West Hawaii Bar Association (WHBA) Members:$260 (note: only the first 20 WHBA registrants will be eligible to later receive $80 reimbursement for ONLY ONE Bar Convention seminar- you will be notified after the event if you are eligible).  
All Other HSBA Members: $260
Non-HSBA Members: $330*
Law School Student HSBA Bar Card Member: Free**
(Cost includes 6 CLE credits, continental breakfast, buffet lunch, afternoon snack and all-day beverage service)

Cancellation/Refunds: Cancellation requests must be received by extended date of Thursday, October 5, 2023 for a full refund. There will be no refunds if you miss the live webcast.

Family Seminar, 6 CLE (8:45am-4:15pm)

8:15am-8:45am: Check in/Continental Breakfast & Beverage Service
8:45am 9:00am: Opening Remarks with Judge Matthew Viola

Morning, 8:45am-12:00pm 

SBP and TSP:  The Survivor Benefit Plan and the Thrift Savings Plan

Speaker:
Mark E. Sullivan, Principal, Sullivan and Hilscher Family Law in Raleigh, North Carolina

What is the Survivor Benefit Plan? How much does it cost, how are premiums paid, and what are the benefits? Is there anything which would disqualify the spouse from coverage? Is it automatic, or do you have to request coverage? Can the servicemember effectively oppose the award of SBP and, if so, how is this done? How can the spouse ensure that the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)  is not omitted? If it is lost, can Servicemembers Group Life Insurance replace it? If SBP is ordered, can the court require the spouse who receives it to pay for it? 

Speaker:
Mark E. Sullivan, Principal, Sullivan and Hilscher Family Law in Raleigh, North Carolina

There are numerous restrictions on pension division and SBP, many of which are hidden deep in the regulations and are absurd or illogical.  This program explains how to identify roadblocks in the statutes, regulations and cases with regard to the election of Survivor Benefit Plan coverage for the ex-spouse, the four methods for dividing the military pension, the inclusion of COLAs (cost-of-living adjustments) in the divided pension, the use of alimony as a substitute for pension division, the rejection of the pension division order by the retired pay center, and where to go when all the deadlines have expired. It also covers how to use two alternate calculations of the community property share in Guard/Reserve cases, getting DFAS to tell you what a retiree’s pay is, and how to get back payments from the retired pay center for arrears due to the spouse. 

Speakers:
Bill Darrah, Mediation Center of the Pacific & Roxanne Kwong, Law Offices of John W. Schmidtke, Jr

Over forty-eight (48) years ago a small group of judges, lawyers, and other family law professionals got together and created the very first edition of the Hawaii Divorce Manual. 

They hoped that the Manual would serve as "a prototype for the development of an entire set of attorney practice books in all major substantive areas," and as a "resource for standardized [divorce] forms", that the use of the Manual would result "in the upgrading of the quality of family law practice," and that by "increasing the efficiency of divorce practice [the Manual would create] cost savings that can be shared between the attorney and client." 

With these same exact goals in mind, the Manual has now been updated thirty-two (32) times since it was first published in 1975. 

The Judiciary website describes the Manual as a valuable resource for divorcing individuals, and those helping them. The Judiciary distributes copies of it to all of the Family Court judges. Appellate determinations cite it as authoritative. Only in the Manual can you find digests of all of the memorandum opinions and SDOs which since July 2008 have constituted the vast majority of all of the divorce-relevant determinations by the ICA, and the Supreme Court. 

For these reasons, the Manual is the undisputed go to resource when it comes to understanding the law and process of divorce in Hawaii. 

In 2021 we created The Manual Project, a collaboration of stakeholders including the HSBA, the FLS, the Richardson Law School, the Family Court, and the Mediation Center of the Pacific, dedicated to the continued success of the Manual. Together we have now created both the 2022 supplement, and the 2023 supplement, to the Manual. 

The 2022 supplement to the Manual revises eighteen (18) of the twenty-five (25) Sections of the Manual. It completely updates Section 2 (Divorce Overview), the word searchable encyclopedia of divorce law and practice so that it now includes all of the cases and statutes through August 31, 2022. Because of its scope, the 2023 Manual supplement largely serves as a replacement for the 2015 9th edition of the Manual, with its 2016-2019 supplements.

The 2023 supplement to the Manual will be presented during the Family Law Section program at the HSBA bar convention on Friday October 20, 2023. Among other things, the 2023 supplement to the Manual will include:

• Digests of all of the divorce-relevant published opinions, memorandum opinions, SDOs, and otherwise citable orders and dispositions, decided by the ICA, and the Supreme Court, between August 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023.   
  
  
• Digests of all of the divorce-relevant statutes enacted by the 2023 Hawaii legislature.  
  An update of Section 3 (Custody) of the Manual including all of the cases and statutes pertaining to the determination of legal and physical custody of minor children incident to divorce decided/enacted since 2015. 
  
  
• An update of Section 4 (Property Division) of the Manual including all of the published opinions and statutes pertaining to divorce property division decided/enacted since 2015. 
  
  
• An update of Section 8 (Child Support) of the Manual including all of the cases and statutes pertaining to the determination of child support, child healthcare, and child education expenses for minor and dependent adult children incident to divorce decided/enacted since 2015.
  
  
• An update to Section 9 (Spousal Support) of the Manual including all of the cases and statutes pertaining to the determination of alimony incident to divorce decided/enacted since 2015.
  
  
• A copy of all of the HFCR 83 First Circuit Family Court divorce-related policy and procedure memoranda issued since the Manual was last updated.
  
  
• A copy of all of the HFCR 84 First Circuit Family Court-authorized divorce practice forms which are not on the Judiciary website. 

12:00pm-1:30pm: Lunch Buffet & Beverage Service

Afternoon, 1:15pm-4:15pm 

Military Custody Issues

Speaker:
Mark E. Sullivan, Principal, Sullivan and Hilscher Family Law in Raleigh, North Carolina

With the mobility of today’s military family and the high rate of divorce, custody and visitation in the context of a servicemember or a spouse can be complex, fast-paced and confusing. This presentation brings together visitation clauses for the military family, types of custody (and how they fit in the military lifestyle), the wishes of the child, mediation, priority trial settings (to speed up the process), and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (to stay the proceedings). Also covered is the Uniform Deployed Parent Custody and Visitation Act, dealing with issues such as expedited hearings, electronic testimony, retention of custody jurisdiction in the event of a deployment, and delegated visitation right to a close family member of the visiting parent who is deployed. 

Military Child Support

Speaker:
Mark E. Sullivan, Principal, Sullivan and Hilscher Family Law in Raleigh, North Carolina

This presentation covers how to get child support flowing without filing suit, what elements of military compensation should be included in support calculations, how to read a Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), what pay is included in garnishment and income-withholding orders, what military medical care includes, and how to enforce child support. 

Military Disability Retired Pay and Family Law 

Speaker:
Mark E. Sullivan, Principal, Sullivan and Hilscher Family Law in Raleigh, North Carolina

When a servicemember is found to be unfit for service, he or she is “mustered out” with an involuntary discharge and, in some cases, retired pay from the service.  Is this retired pay divisible?  What are the ways that can be used to calculate disability retired pay? Can it be garnished for family support?  If so, what are the procedures to obtain a withholding order? Can a former spouse obtain SBP (Survivor Benefit Plan) coverage, even if the disability retired pay cannot be divided? 

Note: Schedule subject to change. Program adjustments may be made.

Parking: You may park at the Japanese Cultural Center; and you will need to go to the kiosk before exiting the parking structure to pay via credit card the parking fee of $8 flat rate. 

Course Materials: In an effort to be green, the Bar Convention Course Materials will be emailed to you before the event. Attendees may print the materials prior to attending or simply view them on their tablet, phone or laptop.  

Divorce Manual Supplement: The 2023 Supplement to the Divorce Manual, 9th edition is available for purchase right now with your Family Law Seminar registration. The discounted Bar Convention price is only $50 for this valuable resource! Attendees of the Family Law Seminar are encouraged to purchase the new Divorce Manual Supplement. Purchased Divorce Manual Supplements will be available for pick up at the Japanese Cultural Center on the day of the Bar Convention. There will be a limited supply of Divorce Manual Supplements available for sale at the Bar Convention. Availability is on a first come first served basis.

How to Register:

HSBA Members: Sign In to the right to register online with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover.

•    Username is JD# (without any zeros in front) and Last Name. Username is not case sensitive.
      Example: 1111Smith
•    Password is first three letters of last name (only first letter is uppercase) and last four digits of SSN. Password is case sensitive.
      Example: Smi4321

HSBA members paying by check or prefer to use the form: Please download this form and submit to the HSBA to register. Form of payment must be received with registration to process. 
*Non-HSBA members: Please download this form  and submit to the HSBA to register. Form of payment must be received with registration to process. 
**Law Student HSBA Bar Card Members: Please register by emailing the CLE Department at [email protected]. (How to do I obtain a Law Student HSBA Bar Card?)

ADA Accommodation:  If you would like to request an accommodation, please contact us by October 5, 2023 at [email protected] or call (808) 537-1868 and ask for the HSBA CLE Department. 

Notice of Videotaping: With the permission of guest speakers, the HSBA selectively webcasts and videotapes CLE seminars for attorneys not physically present in the seminar room. As an in-person attendee your voice and likeness may be included in the webcast or videotape. By attending the seminar you are authorizing the HSBA to include name, voice and likeness to the extent included in the webcast or video recording. Video recordings may be made available or purchase and viewing on the HSBA website.