Skip to main content
Hawaii Ancillary Probate
Support GuideHawaii25 min read

Hawaii Ancillary Probate

Hawaii ancillary probate runs under article III of the probate code, but a home-state executor who files letters under HRS 560:4-204 can often skip it.

By Settled Editorial

Hawaii runs ancillary probate, and HRS § 560:4-207 says article III of the probate code governs it, so a full ancillary case proceeds like any other Hawaii probate. Many families never open one. An executor appointed in the home state can file authenticated letters under § 560:4-204 and act in Hawaii with the powers of a local personal representative, and small estates have two routes of their own.

This page is written for the family whose parent lived in California, Washington, Texas or Japan and left a condominium in Waikiki, a house in Kihei or a lot on the Big Island. It covers which route fits, which circuit court hears the case, what the court asks for, and how the Hawaii estate tax treats a nonresident. Every rule here was read on September 24, 2026 in the Hawaii Revised Statutes on the Legislature's data site, along with each section's history note, and in the Hawaii Probate Rules on the Judiciary's site. The statute compilation runs through the 2025 session, so the 2026 Acts were screened separately. None of them touches article IV of the probate code: Act 47 of 2026 amends only guardianship and conservatorship sealing rules, and Act 35 of 2026 changes only the estate tax's Internal Revenue Code conformity date in § 236E-3. This page explains how the law reads, not how it applies to one estate, so confirm your route with the circuit court or a licensed Hawaii attorney before you rely on it.

The Hawaii questionThe Hawaii answerWhere it is written
Does Hawaii have ancillary probate?Yes, and article III governs itHRS § 560:4-207
Can the home-state executor act without one?Yes, after filing authenticated letters in a circuit holding propertyHRS §§ 560:4-204, 560:4-205
Is there a document to show a title company?Yes, an Acknowledgment of Authority, good for three yearsHawaii Probate Rule 95
Which court?The circuit court of any circuit where the property sat at deathHRS § 560:3-201(a)(2)
Can accounts be collected with no filing at all?Yes, sixty days after death, by affidavit to the holderHRS § 560:4-201
Does the five-year limit apply?No. Ancillary proceedings are exceptedHRS § 560:3-108(a)
Who is first in line to be appointed?The representative appointed at the domicileHRS § 560:3-203(g)
What does the court charge?$100, once per estate, covering a foreign representative filing or an ancillary caseHRS § 607-5(b)(14)
Can a nonresident owe Hawaii estate tax?Yes, on Hawaii real property and tangible propertyHRS § 236E-8(a)(2)

Five Routes for a Nonresident's Hawaii Property

Hawaii gives an out-of-state family five ways to reach property here. The right one depends on what the property is, what it is worth, and whether an executor has already been appointed at home. Here is how they line up.

RouteWhat it reachesWho uses itCourt involvement
Affidavit to the holder, § 560:4-201Debts owed to the estate and personal property, such as a bank account or stockThe domiciliary foreign personal representative, sixty days after deathNone
Filing letters, §§ 560:4-204 and 560:4-205All Hawaii assets, with the powers of a local personal representativeThe domiciliary foreign personal representativeA filing, plus an optional Acknowledgment of Authority from the registrar
Collection affidavit, § 560:3-1201Personal property only, with motor vehicles regardless of valueThe successors, when the gross value of the estate in Hawaii is $100,000 or lessNone
Clerk administration, § 560:3-1205The whole Hawaii estate, real property includedThe circuit court clerk, on a verified petition, when Hawaii property totals $100,000 or lessAn order, which may issue without notice or hearing
Ancillary administration, § 560:4-207Everything in HawaiiA personal representative appointed in HawaiiA full article III case, informal or formal

The first two routes belong to the executor or administrator appointed in the home state, whom the code calls the domiciliary foreign personal representative. The next two belong to Hawaii's small-estate system, and the last is the full case.

Collecting accounts and stock by affidavit

Section 560:4-201 opens once sixty days have passed since the death. Anyone who owes the nonresident's estate money, or holds its personal property, or holds an instrument evidencing a debt, stock or chose in action, may pay or deliver it to the domiciliary foreign personal representative. The representative presents proof of appointment and an affidavit stating three things:

  • the date of the nonresident decedent's death
  • that no local administration, or application or petition for one, is pending in Hawaii
  • that the domiciliary foreign personal representative is entitled to payment or delivery

Section 560:4-202 protects the payer: a payment made in good faith on that proof releases the holder as if it had paid a Hawaii personal representative. Two limits apply. Section 560:4-203 bars the payment if a resident creditor has notified the holder not to pay the foreign representative. And the section says "may", so a holder can still ask for more before it pays. Collecting this way also has a cost of its own: § 560:4-301(2) submits the representative to the jurisdiction of the Hawaii courts, limited to the money or property collected.

Filing letters to act as a Hawaii personal representative

Section 560:4-204 is the route most out-of-state executors use for Hawaii land. If no local administration or application for one is pending, the domiciliary foreign personal representative files, with a court in a judicial circuit where the decedent's property is located, authenticated copies of the appointment and of any official bond. Section 560:4-205 then lets the representative exercise as to assets in Hawaii all powers of a local personal representative and bring actions here, subject to any limits on the representative's powers in the home-state proceeding and to conditions imposed on nonresident parties generally.

The Hawaii Probate Rules turn the filing into a document a buyer, lender or title insurer can read. Under Rule 95, the representative files with the registrar an Application for Issuance of Acknowledgment of Authority, signed by the representative or its counsel, together with copies of the letters testamentary or letters of administration and any official bond. Copies of official records must be certified if they are domestic or exemplified if they are foreign, as Rule 15 requires. If the registrar approves, it issues an Acknowledgment of Authority that expires three years from the date of issuance, with that limit stated on its face. Rule 95 was amended on June 16, 2026, effective July 1, 2026, so read the current text rather than an older copy.

The commentary to Rule 76 states the effect plainly. A domiciliary foreign personal representative may acquire all the powers of a local personal representative simply by filing certified copies of its appointment and any bond, and neither an informal nor a formal ancillary proceeding seeking appointment as a local personal representative is necessary.

That power ends when a Hawaii case begins. Section 560:4-206 says an application or petition for local administration terminates the foreign representative's power under § 560:4-205, though the local court may allow limited powers to preserve the estate. A person who changed position in reliance on the foreign representative's powers, before actual notice of the local case, is not prejudiced, and the Hawaii personal representative takes on the duties the foreign representative's acts created.

The small-estate routes

Hawaii's two $100,000 routes work for a nonresident too, and neither one is closed by an appointment in another state.

  • The collection affidavit. Section 560:3-1201 lets the successors collect personal property by presenting a death certificate and an affidavit that the gross value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii does not exceed $100,000, that no application or petition for a personal representative is pending or has been granted in Hawaii, and who is entitled. The bar names Hawaii only, so an executor serving in Oregon does not close it. The affidavit moves personal property only, so it cannot transfer a condominium, and gross means nothing comes off for a mortgage. The Hawaii collection affidavit guide walks through how the $100,000 test is measured.
  • Clerk administration. Section 560:3-1205 lets the clerk of the court of the judicial circuit where the decedent resided, was domiciled or left property administer the estate as personal representative when the property in Hawaii totals $100,000 or less and no personal representative has been appointed in Hawaii. This route can reach real property. The court may make the order without notice or hearing, and the clerk takes a fee of three percent of the market value of the first $100,000 of the gross estate under § 560:3-1211, paid to the State.

Do you need probate in Hawaii?

Answer a few questions to see whether Hawaii probate is required and which process applies.

Take the 2-minute assessment

Which Circuit Court Hears a Nonresident's Case

Hawaii has no county probate court. Section 560:3-201(a)(2) sets venue for the first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceeding for a decedent who was not domiciled in Hawaii in any judicial circuit where property of the decedent was located at the time of death. HRS § 603-1 divides the State into four judicial circuits, and they are numbered first, second, third and fifth.

Where the property sitsCircuit court
OahuCircuit Court of the First Circuit, Honolulu
Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and MolokiniCircuit Court of the Second Circuit, Wailuku
Hawaii IslandCircuit Court of the Third Circuit, Hilo and Kona
Kauai and NiihauCircuit Court of the Fifth Circuit, Lihue

The Hawaii probate courts by circuit page lists the contact details for each one.

Section 560:3-201(d) locates the harder assets for a non-domiciliary. A debt, other than one evidenced by investment or commercial paper or another instrument, is located where the debtor resides, or at the principal office of a debtor that is not an individual. Commercial paper, investment paper and other instruments are located where the instrument is. An interest in property held in trust is located where the trustee may be sued. Once a case opens, § 560:3-201(b) keeps later proceedings in that court, and subsection (c) lets the court transfer an informal case when it finds venue is elsewhere.

Opening an Ancillary Case

When the lighter routes will not work, a full ancillary case follows article III. Two things change for a nonresident.

The home-state papers come first. Hawaii Probate Rule 76 requires the petitioner in a proceeding ancillary to a probate elsewhere to file, before ancillary letters testamentary or letters of administration issue, a certified copy of the domiciliary proceeding's order of probate or administration, its letters, the will and any codicils admitted to probate there, and any documents closing the domiciliary proceeding. Documents from a foreign country must be exemplified or carry an apostille.

The will does not have to be proved twice. Section 560:3-303(d) lets the registrar grant informal probate of a will already probated elsewhere at any time, on written application with an authenticated copy of the will and of the statement probating it from the office or court where it was first probated. Section 560:3-408 makes a final order of another state's court on testacy, validity or construction of a will binding in Hawaii, if the order was made after notice and a chance to contest and rests on a finding that the decedent was domiciled in that state. A will from a place that does not probate wills after death can come in under § 560:3-303(e) or, in a formal case, § 560:3-409, on an authenticated certificate of its legal custodian.

The five-year limit does not apply. Section 560:3-108(a) bars a probate proceeding to establish a will and a related appointment proceeding more than five years after death, other than an ancillary proceeding. A family that finds a forgotten Hawaii parcel years later still has a way in.

Domicile disputes go to the first court. If a formal Hawaii proceeding and a proceeding after notice in another state both claim the decedent's domicile, § 560:3-202 makes the Hawaii court stay, dismiss or allow amendment unless the Hawaii case was commenced first, and the domicile finding in the first case controls.

For the steps of the case itself, from application to closing, see how probate works in Hawaii.

Advertisement

Who Gets Appointed, and What a Nonresident Signs

Section 560:3-203(g) gives a personal representative appointed by a court of the decedent's domicile priority over all other persons, except where the will names different people to serve in Hawaii and in the home state. The domiciliary representative may nominate someone else, who takes the same priority. Otherwise the ordinary order of § 560:3-203(a) applies, beginning with the person the will names.

A nonresident may serve. Hawaii Probate Rule 87 requires a person who is not a Hawaii resident and seeks appointment as special administrator or personal representative to state, in the petition, application or acceptance, that the person fully and freely submits to the personal jurisdiction of the Hawaii courts and irrevocably appoints the clerk of the court in that circuit as agent for service of process. The appointee must keep the clerk informed in writing of a mailing address and telephone number. Section 560:4-303 separately lets a party serve a foreign personal representative by registered or certified mail to the last reasonably ascertainable address, with at least thirty days to respond.

What the Court Charges

HRS § 607-5(b)(14) sets one fee for "Probate, administration, domiciliary foreign personal representative, or ancillary administration": $100, paid once only for each decedent's estate. The compiled text carries a 2025 amendment, Act 298 of 2025, which changed only family court items and left item (14) alone.

The Judiciary's List of Civil Filing Fees, updated June 17, 2022, prints the probate Application/Petition fee at $100 and names Ancillary Proceedings among the filings it covers. The same list prints an Indigent Surcharge of $65 and an Admin Fee of $50 under Probate. Ask the circuit's estate and probate staff which of those they collect on your filing, particularly on a § 560:4-204 filing of letters, which the fee list does not name separately.

Inventory, Notice and Creditors in a Hawaii Ancillary Case

The inventory covers Hawaii assets only. Hawaii Probate Rule 77 limits the ancillary inventory to assets subject to the jurisdiction of the court. Its commentary names real property interests, certain tangible personal property, and possibly bank accounts located in Hawaii.

The home-state representative gets notice. Rule 79 entitles the domiciliary personal representative to notice of all ancillary proceedings. Where the only assets under administration in Hawaii pass under a specific devise in a will admitted to probate here, the residuary devisees stop being interested persons once the will is admitted, so only the specific devisee and the domiciliary representative remain.

Claims are pooled across states. Section 560:3-815(a) makes every asset administered in Hawaii subject to all claims, allowances and charges existing or established against the personal representative wherever appointed. When the estate in Hawaii or as a whole cannot cover every allowance and claim, subsection (b) gives each allowed claimant an equal proportion, and a creditor that holds a preference or security allowed elsewhere but not in Hawaii collects from Hawaii assets only on the balance. Hawaii's own creditor rules run in the ancillary case under § 560:4-207, and the Hawaii creditor claims guide covers the four-month and eighteen-month bars.

What is left goes home. Section 560:3-816 sends the Hawaii estate of a nonresident to the domiciliary personal representative, if one is willing to receive it, for the benefit of the successors. Three exceptions apply: where the will and choice-of-law rules identify the successors under Hawaii law without reference to the domicile's law, where the Hawaii representative cannot find out after reasonable inquiry whether a domiciliary representative exists, and where the court orders otherwise when closing a formal or supervised case.

Judgments travel. Section 560:4-401 makes an adjudication rendered anywhere for or against any personal representative of the estate binding on the Hawaii personal representative as if that representative had been a party.

Advertisement

Mortgages and Agreements of Sale Held by the Decedent

A different problem arises when the decedent was the lender on a Hawaii mortgage or the seller under a Hawaii agreement of sale. The commentary to Rule 77 explains that Hawaii has adopted the doctrine of equitable conversion (Bank of Hawaii v. Horwith, 71 Haw. 204 (1990)), so ancillary probate of a vendor's interest in an agreement of sale or a mortgagee's security interest should no longer be required. The buyer's interest under an agreement of sale is another matter, and the same commentary says it is subject to ancillary probate in Hawaii.

Someone still has to sign the release or the deed. Rule 80 lets the domiciliary personal representative, or a residuary beneficiary of the domiciliary estate if that estate has closed, petition the court for an order authorizing the petitioner to sign a release of mortgage, a deed in satisfaction of an agreement of sale, or a similar document affecting title, without petitioning for ancillary administration. The petition states the petitioner's contact details, the home-state court, proceeding number and title, the domiciliary representative's name and whether that appointment has ended, and the document that needs a signature. It attaches a certified copy of the order appointing the domiciliary representative and any order of distribution. The rule's commentary gives the reason it exists: Hawaii's Land Court statutes and Hawaii title insurers frequently require a Hawaii court order acknowledging the authority of the person signing.

The Hawaii Estate Tax Reaches Nonresidents

Hawaii levies its own estate tax, and property in Hawaii is enough to bring a nonresident within it. Here is how the three controlling sections fit together.

  • Who is taxed. HRS § 236E-8(a)(2) applies the tax to a nonresident whose gross estate includes any real property situated in Hawaii or tangible personal property with a situs in Hawaii. A single-member limited liability company that has not elected to be taxed as a corporation is disregarded, and the tax applies as if the sole member owned the property. Holding the condominium through that kind of LLC does not move it out of the tax.
  • The exclusion is prorated. HRS § 236E-6(a) ties the Hawaii exclusion to the federal applicable exclusion under the Internal Revenue Code as amended as of December 21, 2017, as if the decedent died on December 31, 2017, so it does not follow the federal figure for a 2026 death. Subsection (b)(2) then multiplies it, for a nonresident, by the value of Hawaii property subject to the tax over the federal gross estate.
  • Residence is presumed. HRS § 236E-6(c)(1) presumes that every decedent having property in Hawaii died a resident and puts the burden of proof on an estate claiming nonresidency. Subsection (c)(2) lets the person who filed the return request a written determination of domicile from the Department of Taxation, between 270 days and three years after the return's due date.

The rates in § 236E-8(b) run from 10 percent on the first $1,000,000 of Hawaii net taxable estate to 20 percent above $10,000,000. The Hawaii estate tax guide covers the return and the exclusion.

Avoiding a Second Probate Next Time

A parent who still owns Hawaii property can spare the family this whole page. Hawaii adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act in HRS chapter 527. Under § 527-9, a transfer on death deed must contain the elements of a recordable deed, state that the transfer occurs at the owner's death, and be recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances or filed with the assistant registrar of the Land Court before the owner dies. Land Court property carries extra steps after death, which the Hawaii transfer on death deed guide walks through.

Other options include a revocable trust that holds the Hawaii title, and joint ownership with survivorship. Ways to avoid probate in Hawaii compares them.

When to Bring In a Hawaii Attorney

A § 560:4-204 filing and a Rule 95 acknowledgment are paperwork most families can manage with the home-state executor's attorney. Bring in a licensed Hawaii probate attorney when:

  • the Hawaii property is registered in Land Court and a title insurer is asking for a court order
  • the decedent was the buyer under an agreement of sale, since that interest needs ancillary probate
  • someone has already filed a Hawaii application or petition, which ends the foreign representative's powers under § 560:4-206
  • a resident creditor has told a Hawaii bank not to pay the foreign representative
  • the estate may owe Hawaii estate tax, or the Department of Taxation treats the decedent as a Hawaii resident
  • two states each claim the decedent was domiciled there
  • the will names a different executor for Hawaii than for the home state

For the Hawaii duties that follow an appointment, see Hawaii executor duties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Hawaii require ancillary probate for property owned by a nonresident?

Not always. HRS 560:4-207 says article III of the probate code governs a Hawaii proceeding for a nonresident decedent, so a full ancillary case looks like an ordinary Hawaii probate. Lighter routes come first. Under HRS 560:4-204 the executor or administrator appointed in the home state may file authenticated copies of the appointment and any official bond with a court in a judicial circuit where the property sits, and 560:4-205 then grants all powers of a local personal representative as to Hawaii assets. The commentary to Hawaii Probate Rule 76 says that when this route is used, neither an informal nor a formal ancillary proceeding is necessary.

Which Hawaii court handles a nonresident's estate?

The circuit court of any judicial circuit where the decedent's property was located at the time of death, under HRS 560:3-201(a)(2). Hawaii has no county probate court. Condominiums on Oahu go to the Circuit Court of the First Circuit, Maui County property to the Second, Big Island property to the Third, and Kauai property to the Fifth. There is no Fourth Circuit. Subsection (d) locates a debt where the debtor resides, commercial and investment paper where the instrument is, and an interest in a trust where the trustee may be sued.

What is a Hawaii Acknowledgment of Authority?

A document the registrar issues under Hawaii Probate Rule 95 to confirm the authority a domiciliary foreign personal representative gains under HRS 560:4-205. The representative files an Application for Issuance of Acknowledgment of Authority with copies of the letters and any bond, certified if they come from another state or exemplified if they come from another country, as Rule 15 requires. The acknowledgment expires three years from the date it issues, and the expiration is stated on its face. Rule 95 was last amended June 16, 2026, effective July 1, 2026.

Can an out-of-state executor collect Hawaii bank accounts without a court filing?

Yes, after sixty days. HRS 560:4-201 lets anyone who owes the estate money or holds its personal property pay or deliver it to the domiciliary foreign personal representative on proof of appointment and an affidavit giving the date of death, stating that no local administration or application for one is pending in Hawaii, and stating that the representative is entitled to payment. Section 560:4-202 releases the payer. Under 560:4-203 the holder may not pay if a resident creditor has told it not to.

Is there a deadline to open an ancillary probate in Hawaii?

The five-year limit does not reach it. HRS 560:3-108(a) bars a probate proceeding to establish a will and a related appointment proceeding more than five years after the death, other than an ancillary proceeding. HRS 560:3-303(d) separately allows informal probate of a will already probated elsewhere at any time, on written application with an authenticated copy of the will and of the statement probating it from the office or court where it was first probated.

Who has priority to be appointed in a Hawaii ancillary case?

The personal representative appointed by a court of the decedent's domicile, under HRS 560:3-203(g), unless the will names different people to serve in Hawaii and in the home state. That representative may nominate someone else, who takes the same priority. A nonresident appointed in Hawaii must submit to the jurisdiction of the Hawaii courts and appoint the circuit court clerk as agent for service of process, under Hawaii Probate Rule 87.

Does a nonresident's estate owe Hawaii estate tax?

It can. HRS 236E-8(a)(2) applies the Hawaii estate tax to a nonresident whose gross estate includes real property situated in Hawaii or tangible personal property with a situs in Hawaii, and it disregards a single-member LLC that has not elected corporate tax treatment. HRS 236E-6(b)(2) prorates the nonresident's exclusion by the share of the federal gross estate that sits in Hawaii, and 236E-6(c)(1) presumes that every decedent with property in Hawaii died a resident, with the burden on the estate to show otherwise.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of September 24, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Hawaii can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.