Hawaii Probate Guide
County-specific probate filing-office contacts, filing fees, required forms, and step-by-step guidance for families settling an estate in Hawaii.
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Types of Probate in Hawaii
Hawaii has no county probate court. Probate is heard by the circuit court of the judicial circuit where the decedent was domiciled, and four circuits serve the five counties: the First Circuit for Oahu, the Second for Maui County including Molokai, Lanai and Kalawao, the Third for Hawaii County and the Fifth for Kauai. Most uncontested estates never see a judge, because informal probate and informal appointment are granted by the registrar under HRS 560:1-307. Below that sit two routes keyed to the same $100,000 figure. The small estate affidavit under HRS 560:3-1201 collects personal property without any court filing where the GROSS value of the Hawaii estate is $100,000 or less, with no deduction for a mortgage, and a registered vehicle may pass on it regardless of value. Where there is real property, the clerk of the circuit court can administer an estate of $100,000 or less under HRS 560:3-1205. The HRS 560:3-1203 summary procedure has no dollar figure and runs inside an existing administration.
See the full comparison of Hawaii probate typesWhich procedures exist, who qualifies, and how the timelines compare.Find your county
Hawaii Probate Filing Offices by County
Choose your county to get its probate court contacts, filing fees, and required forms. 5 counties have detailed data.
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Browse Hawaii guide topics
Jump to court, executor, tax, planning, property, and probate-avoidance guides that match your next task.
Browse Hawaii guide topics
Jump to court, executor, tax, planning, property, and probate-avoidance guides that match your next task.
Executor Duties
4Taxes & Deadlines
8Planning Documents
7Property Transfer
3Avoiding Probate
2Hawaii Probate Self-Help and Online Resources
Hawaii probate resource map by source type
State court, form, statute, agency, and self-help sources for general probate and estate-settlement questions.
County court, clerk, register, or filing-office pages for local probate divisions, filing paths, local forms, fee references, and courthouse-specific resources.
Referral paths for finding certified lawyer-referral services when a family wants help locating counsel.
All Hawaii self-help resources (15 links)Official court, form, law-library, referral, and legal-education links, plus how to use each source
Hawaii probate source navigation starts with state court, form, agency, legal-help, or referral links that are already tracked in Settled state data. These links are state-level starting points, not county-specific filing instructions.
Which Hawaii probate source should you use?
- Start with the state court, form, or self-help source for general Hawaii probate context.
- Use county filing-office, clerk, register, or court pages for local filing locations, local forms, fee schedules, and records portals.
- Use legal-help, law-library, or referral links as research or referral paths, not as a substitute for counsel.
- Verify current filing steps with the county office, court, clerk, register, legal-aid source, or counsel before filing.
Statewide process, forms, and code sources
State court, form, statute, agency, and self-help sources for general probate and estate-settlement questions.
- Hawaii Free Legal Answers
The online legal advice clinic the Judiciary's Self-Help Center Info page describes (as Hawaii Online Pro Bono): qualifying users post a civil legal question at no cost and a volunteer attorney answers online. It answers questions; it does not take a case or file anything.
- Hawaii State Judiciary, List of Civil Filing Fees
The Judiciary's fee list (updated 6/17/2022). Under Probate it prints the $100 application or petition fee, the $65 indigent surcharge and the $50 administrative fee, which together are the $215 collected at filing under HRS 607-5 and 607-5.7.
- Hawaii Probate Rules
The Hawaii Probate Rules as published by the Judiciary, including Rule 91 on affidavits of collection. Amendments to Rules 20 and 41 ordered in July 2026 take effect January 1, 2027 and are not in this compilation.
- Hawaii State Judiciary, Search Court Records
eCourt Kokua, the Judiciary's online records search. The Judiciary says the online display does not comprise all information from court records, and certified records are available in paper form at each courthouse.
- Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 560, Uniform Probate Code
The Legislature's own compilation of the Hawaii Uniform Probate Code, section by section. Hawaii cites it with a colon: HRS 560:3-1201 is chapter 560, article 3, section 1201. The compilation runs about a year behind the Legislature.
- HRS 560:3-1201, Collection of personal property by affidavit
The small estate affidavit: the gross value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii must not exceed $100,000, registered motor vehicles may be transferred regardless of value, and no personal representative may be pending or appointed in Hawaii.
- HRS 338-14.5, Copies of certificate; fees
The statute that sets the death certificate fee: $10 for the first certified copy and $4 for each further copy in the same request. Certificates are issued by the state Department of Health for all five counties.
- HRS 236E-6, Applicable exclusion amounts
The Hawaii estate tax exclusion, fixed at the federal applicable exclusion as it stood for a decedent dying on December 31, 2017, so it does not follow the federal amount.
- Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 527, Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act
Hawaii's transfer on death deed statute. A deed must be recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances or filed with the assistant registrar of the Land Court before the owner dies (HRS 527-9).
- HRS 346-37, Recovery of payments and costs of medical assistance
The Medicaid estate recovery statute. The Department of Human Services may present a small estate affidavit for its claim, and that affidavit has priority over other claimants under HRS 560:3-1201.
County filing-office sources
County court, clerk, register, or filing-office pages for local probate divisions, filing paths, local forms, fee references, and courthouse-specific resources.
- Hawaii State Judiciary, Circuit Courts
The Judiciary's page for the circuit courts, which it says have exclusive jurisdiction in probate, guardianship and criminal felony cases. Hawaii has no county probate court: four judicial circuits hear probate for five counties.
- Hawaii State Judiciary, Court Forms
The Judiciary's forms index, which links each circuit's circuit court, family court and district court forms pages. Probate forms sit under the circuit court forms for the circuit handling the estate.
- HRS 286-52, Procedure when title or interest of vehicle transferred
The vehicle transfer statute. On a transfer by inheritance, devise or bequest the personal representative or successor in interest signs the certificate of ownership, and a $50 fee applies if it is not forwarded within thirty days. Vehicles are titled by each county's director of finance, not a state agency.
Referral-navigation sources
Referral paths for finding certified lawyer-referral services when a family wants help locating counsel.
- Hawaii State Judiciary, Self-Help Center Info
The Judiciary's list of self-help centers and access to justice rooms, with hours and telephone numbers, and the Legal Aid Intake Hotline (808-536-4302 on Oahu, 1-800-499-4302 from the neighbor islands). The services these centers describe are district court and family court civil matters, and none names probate or estates, so treat it as a place to find help rather than a probate desk.
- Hawaii State Bar Association, Lawyer Referral & Information Service (LRIS)
The bar-sponsored attorney referral service; the page calls it the only bar-sponsored attorney referral in the State of Hawaii, says referrals are free, and lists wills among its practice areas. Telephone (808) 537-9140. A referral is not advice.
Settled pairs these Hawaii source links with county pages, forms, first-step guides, transfer guides, and source notes so families can move from statewide context to the local office that handles the estate.
Hawaii Estate Law Overview
Hawaii Estate Tax Info
Hawaii has NO inheritance tax, and no value-based probate tax on an ordinary estate.
Federal estate tax info
Federal estate tax only applies to estates exceeding $15,000,000 (2026).
Who Inherits Without a Will?
Rules for property distribution when someone dies without a valid will.
Hawaii Homestead Protection
Hawaii protects a limited amount of equity in a debtor's home from attachment and execution: up to $30,000 of fair market value (above earlier recorded liens) for a head of a family or a person 65 or older, and up to $20,000 for anyone else, in one parcel of up to one acre with the dwelling on it. Separately, when someone dies, the Uniform Probate Code gives the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary a $30,000 homestead ALLOWANCE out of the estate, ahead of all creditors. The allowance is a dollar amount, not a right to live in the house.
Exempt Property
When a Hawaii domiciliary dies, the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary (or, if none, the children) can claim three protections from the estate before most creditors are paid: a $30,000 homestead allowance, up to $20,000 of household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances and personal effects as exempt property, and a reasonable family allowance for maintenance during administration. They come on top of whatever the will or intestacy gives, and on top of an elective share.