Hawaii Probate Information

In Hawaii, the personal representative is the Uniform Probate Code term for the person often called an executor or administrator. The personal representative must qualify and receive letters testamentary or letters of administration before administration begins (HRS 560:3-103). During administration, the personal representative should review the decedent's records to identify creditors (HRS 560:3-801(c)), use creditor notice and claims deadlines correctly, pay allowed claims in the statutory priority order, handle any homestead allowance under HRS 560:2-402, exempt property under HRS 560:2-403 and family allowance under HRS 560:2-405, address any Hawaii estate tax filing under HRS chapter 236E, and close the estate by the available closing procedure or order.

Hawaii publishes no statewide probate form set. The Judiciary's statewide court forms list was reviewed and does not include a statewide probate set. Instead, HPR Rule 37 allows the circuits, acting unanimously through their administrative judges, to approve model forms, and HPR Rule 38 says counsel should substantially follow approved model forms while noting that preprinted forms are not mandatory.

Hawaii's probate filing fee is set by statute in three pieces: $100 to open a decedent's estate, paid once only for each estate (HRS 607-5(b)(14)); a $50 administrative charge on civil filings (HRS 607-5(c)(32)); and a $65 indigent legal services surcharge on an initial circuit court civil filing (HRS 607-5.7(a)(2), effective January 1, 2014). The Judiciary does not publish a combined probate figure and its own fee sheet tells filers to call the Estate and Guardianship counter instead, so confirm the total with the counter in your circuit before you write the check.

The Judiciary's circuit court fee sheet, effective January 1, 2014, lists copy and document charges that may matter after the case is open: copies in the clerk's office are $1.00 for the first page and $.50 for each additional page; an electronic copy of any document is $10; an expedited or rush request within 4 hours if requested before noon Hawaii Standard Time is $10 plus applicable charges; certification under seal of a copy of a pleading or other paper after the initial pleading is $2; and exemplification is $4. Those figures are published on the Judiciary's fee sheet, and the sheet should be checked before ordering copies.

The Judiciary publishes no separate charge for issuing letters testamentary or letters of administration; a certified copy of a document already in the file is priced on the circuit court fee sheet. A party who has permission to proceed in forma pauperis is exempt from the $65 surcharge under HRS 607-5.7(e)(4), and the Judiciary notes that filing fees in certain non-criminal matters may be waived for people who meet designated financial criteria.

The clerk-administered small estate route has a separate fee rule. Proceedings under that part are free from court costs except advertising, posting, service, preservation, disposal, distribution and administration expenses, plus a fee of three percent of the market value of the first $100,000 in the gross estate under HRS 560:3-1211. The $100,000 figure traces to Act 48, SLH 2000, effective July 1, 2000.

1. At death, collection of personal property by affidavit has no waiting period under HRS 560:3-1201, if the gross value of the estate in Hawaii does not exceed $100,000, excluding registered motor vehicles. The $100,000 figure has applied since Act 48, SLH 2000, effective July 1, 2000.
2. After 120 hours, the registrar may act on an informal probate application filed by a corporate fiduciary, parent, spouse, reciprocal beneficiary or descendant of a parent of the decedent under HRS 560:3-302(a).
3. For any other informal applicant, the registrar may act only after at least fourteen days have passed after the last mailing or other delivery of the advance notice required by HRS 560:3-306, and if no formal testacy petition has been filed (HRS 560:3-302(b)).
4. For creditor notice, a person applying or petitioning for appointment or probate may publish notice once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial circuit where the application or petition is filed (HRS 560:3-801(a)).
5. Published notice starts a four-month claim bar measured from the date of first publication (HRS 560:3-801(a); HRS 560:3-803(a)(1)(A)).
6. Mailed creditor notice gives the creditor sixty days after service of written notice, or the four-month published period, whichever expires later (HRS 560:3-801(b); HRS 560:3-803(a)(1)).
7. If notice to creditors is neither published nor served, predeath claims are barred eighteen months after death (HRS 560:3-803(a)(2)).
8. Claims arising at or after death are governed by HRS 560:3-803(c): a contract claim with the personal representative or trustee is barred four months after performance is due, and any other claim is barred by the later of four months after it arises or the eighteen-month date.
9. For a clerk-administered small estate of $10,000 or less, creditor claims must be filed within sixty days from publication and the clerk distributes after sixty days (HRS 560:3-1206(a); HRS 560:3-1209). The $10,000 figure appears in HRS 560:3-1206.
10. For a clerk-administered small estate over $10,000, notice is as provided for informal probate and the clerk distributes after four months (HRS 560:3-1206(b); HRS 560:3-1209).
11. A flag sheet must be presented no later than 10 days before the scheduled hearing for the hearings listed in HPR Rule 81.
12. An objection to fiduciary or attorney fees must be filed no later than 24 hours before the hearing under HPR Rule 41.
13. An interested person has 10 days after entry of an order made by the clerk under a written delegation to ask a judge to take the matter up, and the clerk's order is automatically vacated when that petition is filed (HPR Rule 48(c)).
14. A proceeding to establish a will and its related appointment proceeding, other than an ancillary proceeding, is generally barred more than five years after death under HRS 560:3-108(a). A proceeding seeking an adjudication of intestacy and related appointment may be commenced at any time if there has been no prior probate proceeding concerning the estate (HRS 560:3-108(b)).
15. A challenge to an informally probated will is governed by HRS 560:3-108(a)(3): the first of ninety days after notice under HRS 560:3-306, twelve months from informal admission, or thirty days from entry of a formal order approving accounts and settlement.
16. A deposited will is held for 20 years after death unless probated or withdrawn under HPR Rule 74.
17. A determination of heirs without probate under HPR Rule 73 requires at least five years after death, notice to known living heirs, publication once a week for three consecutive weeks, and recording of the order in the Bureau of Conveyances of the State of Hawaiʻi.
18. Form M-6 for Hawaii estate tax is due nine months after the date of death under HRS chapter 236E and the Form M-6 instructions. An automatic six-month filing extension depends on an approved federal Form 4768 and does not extend the time to pay.

Hawaii has two separate $100,000 routes that must not be merged. First, HRS 560:3-1201 allows collection of personal property by affidavit when the gross value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii does not exceed $100,000, registered motor vehicles are excluded from that count, and no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or granted in Hawaii. The affidavit is presented with a death certificate to the person or institution holding the property, and it is not filed with a court. There is no waiting period in HRS 560:3-1201. The $100,000 figure has applied since Act 48, SLH 2000, effective July 1, 2000.

Hawaii also lets the clerk of the circuit court be appointed to administer a small estate. Under HRS 560:3-1205, if someone dies leaving property in Hawaii worth $100,000 or less and no personal representative has been appointed, the court may order the clerk of the circuit court where the person lived to administer the estate as personal representative, on a verified petition by the clerk or by any interested person, and the order can be made without notice or a hearing. Proceedings under that part are free from court costs except advertising and administration expenses and a fee of three percent of the market value of the first $100,000 of the gross estate (HRS 560:3-1211). The circuit courts do not publish instructions or a form for this route; ask the Estate and Guardianship counter whether it is available for your estate.

HRS 560:3-1206 divides clerk-administered cases by value. If the estate has a total value of $10,000 or less, the clerk posts and may advertise notice, creditor claims are due within sixty days from publication and distribution follows after sixty days. If the estate exceeds $10,000, notice is as provided for informal probates and distribution follows after four months under HRS 560:3-1209.

HRS 560:3-1203 is different again. It is a summary administration closing shortcut inside an already-open case, not a dollar ceiling. If the inventory and appraisal show that the value of the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, administration expenses, funeral expenses and last-illness medical expenses, the personal representative may distribute and file the closing statement described in HRS 560:3-1204 without giving notice to creditors.

The allowances used in that HRS 560:3-1203 comparison were updated by Act 158, SLH 2023, approved June 29, 2023. The homestead allowance is $30,000 under HRS 560:2-402. Exempt property is $20,000 under HRS 560:2-403. The family allowance may be a lump sum not exceeding $36,000 or periodic installments not exceeding $3,000 per month for one year under HRS 560:2-405.

Page last reviewed: August 2026.