Probate in Hawaii: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will

Hawaii requires probate for most estates, though the rules for what gets processed as part of probate depends on how you’ve structured your assets. If someone dies without a will, this is called intestate succession. An estate will go through probate in Hawaii if there is no will, with the exception of a few circumstances, listed below.

• Life insurance policies with beneficiaries.

• Retirement accounts with beneficiaries.

• Bank or brokerage accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation

• Property owned jointly with right of survivorship.

If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in Hawaii. If the total value of the estate, wherever located, is $100,000 or less (motor vehicles don't count toward this figure), and at least 30 days have passed since the death, you can use a small estate affidavit instead of full probate.

Succession Laws Without a Will in Hawaii

Hawaii answers the property-ownership question differently than some neighboring states, which matters for inheritance. Hawaii is a common law property state, not a community property state. Translation? Ownership goes to whoever’s name is on the title, deed, or account. Hawaii follows the Uniform Probate Code, and a surviving spouse can also claim an elective share on a sliding scale tied to the length of the marriage.

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If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed according to the following lines of succession.

• If your children are all shared with your surviving spouse, and your spouse has no descendants from another relationship, or you have no descendants at all and no living parents, your spouse inherits everything.  

• If you have no descendants but a parent survives you, your spouse inherits the first $400,000 of your estate, plus 3/4 of the balance. Your parents inherit the rest.  

• If your children are all shared with your spouse, but your spouse also has descendants from another relationship, your spouse inherits the first $330,000 of your estate, plus 1/2 of the balance. Your descendants inherit the rest.  

• If you have children from a relationship other than your current spouse, your spouse inherits the first $220,000 of your estate, plus 1/2 of the balance. Your children inherit the rest.

• If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything, divided equally.

• If you have no spouse and no children, your parents inherit everything, then your siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Hawaii Probate Process

Hawaii probate is filed through the Circuit Court in the county where the deceased lived, and most estates take 6 to 12 months to close. Hawaii is one of a handful of states that also imposes its own state estate tax, which can apply to estates above roughly $5.49 million.

Avoiding Probate in Hawaii

There are a few reliable ways to keep assets out of probate court entirely.

• Consider a revocable living trust which will identify someone to manage distributing your assets after your death.

• Think about adding beneficiaries on financial and retirement accounts which will give the designated person automatic ownership of those accounts.  

• Set up joint ownership on real estate with right of survivorship, allowing that to pass to the specified person at the time of your death.

• Given Hawaii's real estate values, a living trust is especially common here, since most homes exceed the small estate affidavit threshold on their own.

Want to learn more about trusts in Hawaii? Learn what you’ll need to put your trust together.