What documents does a Hawaii estate plan need?

Four, and the last one is optional. A will under HRS 560:2-502 decides who inherits your probate property and who serves as personal representative. A financial power of attorney under chapter 551E covers your money while you are alive and unable to act. An advance health-care directive under HRS 327E-3 names a health care agent, gives instructions, or both. A revocable trust under the Uniform Trust Code, chapter 554D, sits on top of those when your situation calls for one. Parents add a guardian appointment for minor children, which HRS 560:5-202 lets you make in the will or another signed writing.

Does a Hawaii will need a notary?

No. HRS 560:2-502(a) asks for a writing, your signature, and the signatures of at least two witnesses, each of whom signs within a reasonable time after watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge the signature or the will. A notary enters only through the optional self-proving affidavit in HRS 560:2-504, which saves your witnesses a trip to court later. Hawaii also accepts a handwritten will with no witnesses under HRS 560:2-502(b) when the signature and material portions are in your handwriting.

Does a Hawaii power of attorney have to be notarized?

Not to be valid. HRS 551E-3(b) requires only that you sign it, or that someone sign your name in your conscious presence at your direction. Acknowledging the signature before a notary makes it presumed genuine, and that presumption is what banks and title companies look for. A power used to transfer Hawaii real property also has to be recorded at the Bureau of Conveyances under HRS 502-84 to bind third parties, so most Hawaii powers get notarized anyway. The document is durable unless it expressly says incapacity ends it, under HRS 551E-3(a).

Does marriage or a new baby revoke a Hawaii will?

No. HRS 560:2-508 says a change of circumstances does not revoke a will except as HRS 560:2-803 and 560:2-804 provide. Divorce, or the end of a reciprocal beneficiary relationship, revokes revocable gifts and nominations in favor of the former partner under HRS 560:2-804. A new spouse or reciprocal beneficiary left out of an older will may claim an intestate share under HRS 560:2-301, and a child born or adopted later may claim a share under HRS 560:2-302. Those rules replace your plan with a default, so update the will after a wedding or a birth.

Is my Hawaii living trust revocable if it does not say so?

It depends on when you signed it. HRS 554D-602(a) makes a trust revocable unless its terms expressly say it is irrevocable, but the same subsection says that default does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before January 1, 2022. For an older trust, read its own terms on revocation. A newer trust can be revoked or amended by the method it sets out, or if it sets none, by any signed writing that shows your intent by clear and convincing evidence.

Does Hawaii have an estate tax?

Yes. HRS 236E-6 sets the Hawaii exclusion at the federal amount under the Internal Revenue Code as amended as of December 21, 2017, computed as if the decedent died on December 31, 2017. That works out to $5,490,000 under IRS Revenue Procedure 2016-55, far below the $15,000,000 federal figure for a 2026 death. An estate that owes nothing to the IRS can still owe Hawaii, which is why the trust and titling choices on this page matter more here than in most states.

Hawaii Estate Planning Basics

Q: Who makes my medical decisions in Hawaii if I sign nothing?

Hawaii has no ranked family list. Under HRS 327E-5 the physician in charge of your care looks for interested persons, tells them you lack capacity, and asks them to agree on one surrogate, ideally the person closest to you and most likely to know your current wishes. If they cannot agree, any of them may start a guardianship case. A surrogate you did not choose also faces a limit on withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration that a chosen agent does not. Signing a power of attorney for health care under HRS 327E-3(b) avoids that process.

Hawaii estate planning runs on four documents. A will decides who inherits your probate property and who serves as personal representative. A financial power of attorney handles your money while you are alive and unable to act. An advance health-care directive covers medical decisions. A revocable trust is optional and sits on top of the other three.

Every rule on this page was read on September 24, 2026 in the Hawaii Revised Statutes the Legislature publishes at data.capitol.hawaii.gov, with the history note under each section checked. That compilation runs through the 2025 session, so the 2026 session's Acts were screened as well. The only 2026 Act touching the Uniform Probate Code, Act 47, changes how capacity records are sealed in guardianship cases, and none touches the sections this page cites.

Hawaii keeps this law in several chapters, and the split matters when you go looking. Wills and guardianship sit in chapter 560, the Hawaii Uniform Probate Code. The financial power of attorney sits in chapter 551E. Health care sits in chapter 327E. Trusts sit in chapter 554D. The transfer on death deed sits in chapter 527, and the estate tax in chapter 236E.

This page is a map. Each section states the Hawaii signing rule, names the trap that catches people who follow national advice, then points to the deeper guide. It is general information about Hawaii law and not advice about your plan, so have a licensed Hawaii attorney review what you sign.

The Four Documents at a Glance

Document	What it controls	When it works	Hawaii signing rule
Will	Who inherits probate property, who serves as personal representative, who raises minor children	At death	In writing, signed by you, plus two witnesses who each sign within a reasonable time. No notary (HRS 560:2-502(a)). Handwritten wills allowed (560:2-502(b))
Financial power of attorney	Money and property while you are alive	On signing, unless you defer it (551E-5)	Your signature. A notary makes it presumed genuine. No witnesses (551E-3(b))
Power of attorney for health care	Who decides your medical care	When your physician finds you lack capacity, unless you say otherwise (327E-3(e), (f))	Written, dated, signed, then two qualified witnesses or a notary in Hawaii (327E-3(b))
Individual instruction	What care you want	When a condition you name arises, or you lose capacity	Oral or written (327E-3(a))
Revocable trust (optional)	Only the assets you retitle into it	On signing, and at death for funded assets	Uniform Trust Code, chapter 554D

Who may sign any of these starts with age. HRS 577-1 makes a Hawaii resident an adult at eighteen, and HRS 560:2-501 lets an individual eighteen or older who is of sound mind make a will. HRS 327E-3 goes one step further for health care: an emancipated minor may also give an instruction or name a health care agent.

1. A Hawaii Will

HRS 560:2-502(a) sets three requirements. The will must be in writing. You sign it, or someone signs your name in your conscious presence and at your direction. Then at least two individuals sign, each within a reasonable time after watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge the signature or the will.

Three points trip people up.

No notary is part of the rule. A will signed in front of a notary and nobody else has not met 560:2-502(a). A notary comes in only through the self-proving affidavit in HRS 560:2-504, which you may attach at the signing or any time afterward. The affidavit spares your witnesses a court appearance and has each of them swear they signed "in the presence and hearing of the testator", so a signing that follows the form keeps everyone in one room.

A handwritten will counts. Under HRS 560:2-502(b), a will that misses the witness rule "is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator's handwriting." Hawaii also adopted the harmless-error rule at HRS 560:2-503, which treats a flawed document as properly signed when the person offering it proves by clear and convincing evidence that you meant it as your will. Treat both as a safety net, not a plan. Each one leaves your family to prove something after you are gone.

A witness who inherits keeps the gift. HRS 560:2-505(b) says an interested witness does not invalidate the will "or any provision of it, including any gift to or appointment of the witness." That still hands an easy argument to anyone who wants to claim undue influence, so two witnesses who take nothing under the will remain the better choice.

Two conveniences are worth knowing. HRS 560:2-513 lets your will refer to a separate signed list that gives away tangible personal property other than money, as long as the list describes the items and the recipients with reasonable certainty. You may change the list later without re-signing the will. And HRS 560:2-507 revokes a will by a later will or by burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating or destroying it with the intent to revoke.

Start with a valid Hawaii will, and see what happens to property with no will in Hawaii intestate succession.

Marriage and a New Baby Do Not Revoke the Will

Here is the rule national articles most often get wrong for Hawaii. HRS 560:2-508 says a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it, except as HRS 560:2-803 and 560:2-804 provide. A wedding does not revoke it. A birth or an adoption does not revoke it. A move does not revoke it.

The exception is the end of a relationship, and Hawaii writes it for two kinds of partner. HRS 560:2-804 revokes revocable gifts to a former spouse and the former spouse's relatives, powers of appointment given to them, and nominations of them as personal representative, trustee, conservator, agent or guardian. It applies the same rule when a reciprocal beneficiary relationship under chapter 572C is terminated. A legal separation that does not end the marriage is not a divorce for this purpose.

A new spouse or a later child is protected by a different route. HRS 560:2-301 gives a spouse, or a reciprocal beneficiary, who joined you after you signed the will at least an intestate share of the part of the estate not left to your children from an earlier relationship. That rule steps aside if the will was made in contemplation of the marriage, says it should survive one, or you provided for the new partner outside the will in place of a gift in it. HRS 560:2-302 gives a child born or adopted after the will a share unless the omission appears intentional or you provided for the child outside the will. Both statutes work, and both replace your plan with a formula. A rewrite after a wedding or a birth is still the right move.

2. A Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Unless You Say Otherwise

Hawaii's Uniform Power of Attorney Act is chapter 551E, enacted in 2014. Two rules in HRS 551E-3 decide most questions.

Durability is the default. HRS 551E-3(a) says a power of attorney under the chapter "shall be durable unless it expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal." You need no special wording. A document that says nothing about incapacity keeps working when you lose capacity, which is the moment it matters most.

Only your signature is required. HRS 551E-3(b) requires the power to be signed by you, or in your conscious presence by someone you direct to sign your name. The second sentence adds that a signature "is presumed to be genuine" when you acknowledge it before a notary public. So notarizing is not a condition of validity in Hawaii, but it is what makes the document easy to use. Banks and title companies want the acknowledgment, and HRS 502-84 says a power of attorney used to transfer Hawaii real property must be recorded at the Bureau of Conveyances or it does not bind third parties. The section asks for no witnesses.

The power works from the day you sign it unless you defer it. HRS 551E-5(a) lets you make it start on a future date or event. If you make it spring on your incapacity and name nobody to decide that, HRS 551E-5(c) hands the call to a physician or licensed psychologist, or to an attorney, a judge or an appropriate government official, in a writing or other record. A springing power buys privacy and costs time at the worst moment.

Two boundaries matter. HRS 551E-2(2) excludes "a power to make health care decisions" from chapter 551E entirely, so your financial power cannot name a medical decision maker. And a power of attorney ends at death, when a personal representative appointed in probate takes over. The full walkthrough is in Hawaii power of attorney.

3. The Advance Health-Care Directive

Hawaii handles medical planning in chapter 327E, a modified version of the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. An advance health-care directive is either of two things, and you may put both in one document.

An individual instruction says what care you want. HRS 327E-3(a) lets it be oral or written, and lets it apply only when a condition you name arises. This is where living will language goes.

A power of attorney for health care names an agent. HRS 327E-3(b) requires it to be in writing, dated with the date you sign, signed by you, and then witnessed by one of two methods. Either two individuals sign, each of whom watched you sign or heard you acknowledge your signature, or you acknowledge it before a notary public "at any place within this State." A notary in another state does not meet that phrase, though HRS 327E-3(j) separately accepts a directive signed elsewhere that complied with that state's law.

The witness rules are where Hawaii documents fail. HRS 327E-3(c) bars a health-care provider, an employee of a health-care provider or facility, and the agent you are naming. HRS 327E-3(d) then requires at least one of the two witnesses to be neither related to you by blood, marriage or adoption nor entitled to any part of your estate under your will or by law. Two of your adult children can never be your only witnesses. One of them plus an unrelated friend can.

The agent waits for a finding. Unless the document says otherwise, HRS 327E-3(e) makes the agent's authority start only on a determination that you lack capacity, and end if you recover. HRS 327E-3(f) gives that determination to the physician in charge of your care unless your directive names someone else. The agent decides by your instructions and known wishes, and otherwise by your best interest, with no court approval needed under HRS 327E-3(g) and (h).

What Hawaii Decides If You Sign Nothing

Hawaii does not rank your relatives. Under HRS 327E-5, once the physician finds you lack capacity and no agent or guardian is available, the physician tries to locate interested persons and tells them a surrogate should be chosen. They then try to reach a consensus on one person, ideally the one closest to you and most likely to know your current wishes. If they cannot agree, any of them may start a guardianship case.

You can short-circuit that without paperwork. HRS 327E-5(a) lets you designate or disqualify a surrogate "by personally informing the supervising health-care provider." A surrogate the family picks also carries a limit a chosen one does not: HRS 327E-5(g) lets an undesignated surrogate withhold or withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration only when two physicians certify it is merely prolonging the act of dying and you are highly unlikely to have any neurological response in the future. Read an advance health-care directive before you sign.

4. A Revocable Trust, and a Hawaii Date to Check

Hawaii adopted the Uniform Trust Code as chapter 554D in 2021. The rules that matter for a living trust sit in part 6.

Revocable by default, for newer trusts only. HRS 554D-602(a) says that unless the trust terms expressly make it irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend it. The same subsection then says that rule "shall not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before January 1, 2022." A national article that tells you every silent trust is revocable is describing a rule Hawaii applies only to trusts signed on or after that date. If yours is older, read its own revocation clause.

How to change one. Under HRS 554D-602(c), you revoke or amend by following, in substance, the method the trust sets out, or, if it sets none, by any written and signed method that shows your intent by clear and convincing evidence. HRS 554D-602(e) lets your agent under a power of attorney revoke, amend or distribute from the trust only to the extent both the trust and the power expressly allow it, so give your trust and your power of attorney matching language if you want your agent to have that authority.

What a trust does not do. A revocable trust shields nothing from your creditors while you are alive under HRS 554D-505(a)(1). After your death, HRS 554D-505(a)(3) makes the trust property answer for your debts, funeral costs, administration costs and the family allowances to the extent your probate estate cannot cover them. A trust also controls only what you retitle into it, so funding it is the real work.

How long a challenge can wait. HRS 554D-604(a) gives a person who wants to contest a revocable trust after the settlor's death until the earlier of five years after the death or ninety days after the trustee sends a copy of the trust and a notice of the deadline. A trustee who sends that notice shortens the window considerably.

Hawaii also recognizes a trust for pets. HRS 554D-408 makes a trust for one or more designated domestic or pet animals valid and has it end when no covered animal is still living. See a revocable living trust for funding and administration, and a trust for an animal for the pet rules.

Naming a Guardian for Your Children

Parents do this inside the will, or on a separate page. HRS 560:5-202(a) lets a parent appoint a guardian "by will or other signed writing" for any minor child the parent has or may have in the future, and to limit the guardian's powers. Under HRS 560:5-202(c), the appointment takes effect on the parent's death, on an adjudication that the parent is incapacitated, or on a physician's written determination that the parent can no longer care for the child, whichever comes first. The guardian then has thirty days to file an acceptance under HRS 560:5-202(d).

Two limits keep this in proportion. HRS 560:5-202(g) says the appointment does not override the other parent's parental rights. And a minor's guardianship is heard by the family court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over it under HRS 560:5-106.

Adults can name their own future guardian too. HRS 551E-4(a) lets you nominate a conservator or guardian in your financial power of attorney, and the court appoints according to your most recent nomination except for good cause or disqualification. HRS 327E-3(i) lets a written health-care directive nominate a guardian as well. More detail is in naming a guardian.

Two Hawaii Facts That Shape the Rest of the Plan

Hawaii has its own estate tax, with a frozen exclusion. HRS 236E-6(a) ties the exclusion to the federal amount under the Internal Revenue Code "as amended as of December 21, 2017", computed as if the decedent died on December 31, 2017. The statute prints no dollar figure. The federal exclusion amount for a 2017 death was $5,490,000 under IRS Revenue Procedure 2016-55, and nothing in chapter 236E indexes it. The federal exclusion for a 2026 death is $15,000,000, so a Hawaii estate can owe the state and owe nothing to the IRS. Check whether estate tax matters for you before you settle on a plan.

The house can pass by a recorded deed. Chapter 527 authorizes a transfer on death deed. HRS 527-9 requires it to state that the transfer happens at your death and to be recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances, or filed with the assistant registrar of the Land Court for Land Court property, before you die. HRS 527-11 lets you revoke it only by a later recorded instrument, and says tearing up a recorded deed does nothing. See the Hawaii transfer on death deed and, for the other tools, keeping assets out of probate.

Next Steps

Sign a will with two witnesses who take nothing under it, and attach the self-proving affidavit.
Sign a financial power of attorney and have it notarized, then record it at the Bureau of Conveyances if your agent may need to sell or mortgage Hawaii real property.
Sign a power of attorney for health care with a Hawaii notary, or with two witnesses at least one of whom is unrelated to you and inherits nothing.
Decide whether a trust earns its cost, and check the signing date of any trust you already have against January 1, 2022.
Revisit everything after a divorce, a wedding, a birth, or the end of a reciprocal beneficiary relationship, since Hawaii revokes some provisions automatically and fills others in with a formula.

When the plan is eventually used, the estate moves through the circuit court for the island where you lived, as described in the Hawaii probate guide.

Sources:

Title: HRS 560:2-501, Who may make will. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (compilation through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0501.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-502, Execution; witnessed wills; holographic wills. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0502.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-503, Writings intended as wills, etc. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0503.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-504, Self-proved will. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0504.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-505, Who may witness. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0505.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-507, Revocation by writing or by act. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0507.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-508, Revocation by change of circumstances. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0508.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-513, Separate writing identifying devise of certain types of tangible personal property. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0513.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-301, Entitlement of spouse or reciprocal beneficiary; premarital will. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 1997, c 383; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0301.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-302, Omitted children. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 2023, c 158; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0302.htm
Title: HRS 560:2-804, Revocation of probate and nonprobate transfers by divorce or termination of reciprocal beneficiary relationship; no revocation by other changes of circumstances. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 2023, c 158; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0804.htm
Title: HRS 560:5-106, Subject matter jurisdiction. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0005-0106.htm
Title: HRS 560:5-202, Parental appointment of guardian. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0005-0202.htm
Title: HRS 551E-2, Applicability. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2014, c 22; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0551E/HRS_0551E-0002.htm
Title: HRS 551E-3, Power of attorney. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2014, c 22; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0551E/HRS_0551E-0003.htm
Title: HRS 551E-4, Nomination of conservator or guardian; relation of agent to court-appointed fiduciary. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2014, c 22; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0551E/HRS_0551E-0004.htm
Title: HRS 551E-5, Effective date of power of attorney. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2014, c 22; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0551E/HRS_0551E-0005.htm
Title: HRS 502-84, Powers of attorney, etc. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 1972, c 125; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0502/HRS_0502-0084.htm
Title: HRS 327E-3, Advance health-care directives. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 2004, c 161; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0327E/HRS_0327E-0003.htm
Title: HRS 327E-5, Health-care decisions; surrogates. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 2018, c 125; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0327E/HRS_0327E-0005.htm
Title: HRS 554D-602, Revocation or amendment of revocable trust. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2021, c 32; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0554D/HRS_0554D-0602.htm
Title: HRS 554D-604, Limitation on action contesting validity of revocable trust; distribution of trust property. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2021, c 32; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0554D/HRS_0554D-0604.htm
Title: HRS 554D-505, Creditor's claim against settlor. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2021, c 32; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0554D/HRS_0554D-0505.htm
Title: HRS 554D-408, Trust for care of animal. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2021, c 32; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0554D/HRS_0554D-0408.htm
Title: HRS 527-9, Requirements (transfer on death deed). Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2011, c 173; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0527/HRS_0527-0009.htm
Title: HRS 527-11, Revocation by instrument authorized; revocation by act not permitted. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (L 2011, c 173; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0527/HRS_0527-0011.htm
Title: HRS 236E-6, Applicable exclusion amounts. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 2019, c 69; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol04_Ch0201-0257/HRS0236E/HRS_0236E-0006.htm
Title: HRS 577-1, Age of majority. Publisher: Hawaii State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed (last amended L 1975, c 77; accessed 2026-09-24). URL: https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0577/HRS_0577-0001.htm
Title: Revenue Procedure 2016-55, section 3.35, Unified Credit Against Estate Tax. Publisher: Internal Revenue Service. Publication Date: 2016; accessed 2026-09-24. URL: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-16-55.pdf
Title: 26 U.S.C. 2010, Unified credit against estate tax. Publisher: Office of the Law Revision Counsel, United States House of Representatives. Publication Date: Current through the prelim release; accessed 2026-09-24. URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section2010&num=0&edition=prelim

It is not legal advice.

The Four Documents at a Glance

1. A Hawaii Will

Marriage and a New Baby Do Not Revoke the Will

2. A Financial Power of Attorney, Durable Unless You Say Otherwise

3. The Advance Health-Care Directive

What Hawaii Decides If You Sign Nothing

4. A Revocable Trust, and a Hawaii Date to Check

Naming a Guardian for Your Children

Two Hawaii Facts That Shape the Rest of the Plan

Next Steps

Related Hawaii Resources

Hawaii Will Requirements

Hawaii Executor Duties

Hawaii Intestate Succession

Hawaii Probate Guide

More Hawaii Resources