Hawaii Adoption Records: Family Court Access to the OBC

Hawaii runs a compromise model built around the family court rather than the vital records office. Hawaii Revised Statutes 578-15 seals adoption records, but it gives an 18 or older adoptee a lower bar than everyone else who might ask to see them: a written request straight to the family court, with no need to show good cause. The original birth certificate (OBC) is reached indirectly. The only express right to a copy of the OBC written into 578-15 is subsection (b)(5), which runs to a natural parent, while the adult adoptee's own right under (b)(2) is inspection of the sealed court records. HRS 338-20(e), the vital records statute, is the bridge: it lets the Department of Health open the sealed documents, which include the original certificate of birth, when a request is made in accordance with 578-14.5 or 578-15.

Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How an Adult Adoptee Gets Adoption Records in Hawaii

HRS 578-15(b) allows records to be inspected only 'upon order of the family court upon a showing of good cause,' with one important exception: after the adopted individual turns 18, that adoptee may submit a written request for inspection to the family court without the good cause showing required of everyone else. HRS 338-20(e), the vital records statute, ties the OBC specifically to this same standard, stating that sealed documents 'may be opened by the department only by an order of a court of record or when requested in accordance with section 578-14.5 or 578-15.' Read the two together and the adoptee's OBC access is derivative rather than express: (b)(2) is worded as inspection of the sealed records, and it is 338-20(e) that gives the Department of Health authority to open the sealed birth certificate on such a request. In practice this is still a court filing, not a walk up request at a state agency, which is why Hawaii sits in the compromise category rather than the unrestricted one.

Filing With the Family Court: Form 1F-P-767

The operational route is Hawaii Judiciary Form 1F-P-767, Request Regarding Confidential Adoption Records of the Family Court, usable by adult adoptees and by natural or adoptive parents. The form's own instructions cite Act 80 of 2016, effective June 21, 2016, as its statutory authority. The statute has been touched since then: 578-15 was last amended by Act 160 of 2023, and its source note now reads am L 2016, c 80, §2; am L 2023, c 160, §6. The access exceptions in subsection (b) discussed above are the ones in the current text. There is no stated filing fee. A request submitted in person needs only a photo ID; a mailed request must be notarized.

Hawaii's family court is organized by circuit, and the filing office depends on where the adoption was granted: the 1st Circuit (Oahu, filed in Kapolei), the 2nd Circuit (Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, filed in Wailuku), the 3rd Circuit (Hawaii Island, with offices in Hilo and Kona), and the 5th Circuit (Kauai, filed in Lihue). Hawaii's circuit numbering has no 4th Circuit.

Hawaii Has No Separate Reunion Registry

Hawaii has no dedicated mutual consent registry and no confidential intermediary program. Chapter 578, the adoption chapter, runs from 578-1 through 578-18 and contains no registry section. Instead of a standalone registry, Hawaii routes reunion and identifying information access through the direct family court petition mechanism described above under HRS 578-15(b)(2) and (b)(3).

Non-Identifying Information

Separately from the identity question, HRS 578-14.5 authorizes a medical information form covering the natural parents' medical, genetic, and inheritable disease history. The Department of Health makes this form available to public agencies, Department of Human Services approved child placing organizations, attorneys and others assisting in the adoption process, and the family court itself. Completed forms become part of the Department of Health's adoption records. Under 578-14.5(h), an adopted child who has reached the age of majority, an adoptive parent, guardian, or custodian applying on behalf of a minor adopted child, or an authorized designee may file a written application with the department for that information, and the department then furnishes a copy of the completed forms and, if available, the abstract drawn from the birthing parent's medical records.

How to Apply

File Form 1F-P-767 with the Adoption Records office of the family court circuit where the adoption was granted. In person filing requires a photo ID; mailed filing requires notarization. No fee is stated. Contact the specific circuit's Family Court Adoption Records office for current processing time estimates.

This article is part of recordinglaw.com's Adoption Records by State series. For a state by state explanation of the original birth certificate concept itself, see How to Get Your Original Birth Certificate. For search strategy and honest expectations, see How to Find Birth Parents. For how mutual consent registries work across states, see Adoption Reunion Registries.

A general, non-adoption birth certificate is a different question with different rules; see Are Birth Certificates Public Records? for that distinction. Sealed adoption files also come up in Hawaii's broader public records rules; see Hawaii Court Records. Where a birth parent search runs into a death, see Hawaii Death Records, and for a name trail after marriage or divorce, see Hawaii Marriage and Divorce Records.

Disclaimer

This article explains Hawaii's family court process for adult adoptees seeking their own adoption records. It is general legal information, not legal advice, and is not a substitute for a licensed Hawaii attorney or the family court's own guidance. Forms and processes change; verify current requirements with the relevant circuit's family court before relying on them.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and forms reflect their published status as of August 2026.