How Probate Works in Hawaii

File an application for informal probate or appointment with the probate registrar (or a petition for formal probate with the circuit court); the personal representative is appointed and receives letters; notice to creditors may be published once a week for 2 weeks and mailed to known creditors; the personal representative prepares an inventory within 3 months after appointment and sends it to interested persons who request it; pays claims and expenses and distributes the estate; then closes the estate by a verified closing statement filed no earlier than 6 months after appointment, or by court order.

If the decedent's Hawaii property is worth $100,000 or less and no personal representative has been appointed, the court may authorize the clerk of the circuit court to administer the estate on a verified petition, without notice or hearing at the court's discretion. Separately, if the inventory shows the estate (less liens) does not exceed the family allowances, exempt property, administration costs, reasonable funeral expenses and last-illness medical expenses, the personal representative may distribute immediately without notice to creditors and close by sworn statement. Informal (unsupervised) probate through the probate registrar is also available.

If notice to creditors is published, claims arising before death must be presented within 4 months after the first publication, or within 60 days after a mailed or delivered notice to a known creditor, whichever is later. If no notice is published or served, claims are barred 18 months after death.

Priority for appointment goes to the person named in the will, then the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary who is a devisee, other devisees, the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, other heirs, and (after 45 days) a creditor. A person under 18, or one the court finds unsuitable in formal proceedings, cannot serve. The statute does not bar non-residents. No bond is required in informal proceedings unless the will requires it or an interested person asks for one; in formal proceedings the court may require bond unless the will waives it.

Yes, for personal property. A successor can collect money owed to the decedent and the decedent's personal property by giving the holder a death certificate and an affidavit stating that the gross value of the decedent's Hawaii estate does not exceed $100,000 (motor vehicles can be transferred regardless of value), that no petition for a personal representative is pending or granted in Hawaii, and that the successor is entitled to the property. The statute does not set a waiting period. Real estate is not covered by the affidavit.

Estate and probate cases are Circuit Court cases. The Judiciary's eCourt Kokua system provides public case information for Circuit Court civil and other case types; probate and estate case numbers use prefixes such as EQ, LG, LP, SE and TS in the 12-character eCourt case ID. Confidential, juvenile and sealed cases are not shown.