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Hawaii Probate Types: Informal vs Formal

Hawaii sorts its routes by how much of the estate is in dispute and who runs it, not by price. Every court route opens for the same $215, and the only charge that grows with the estate belongs to the clerk-run small estate.

Compare eligibility, timing, court involvement, and local verification points

How to Compare Hawaii Probate Types

One kind of court hears all of it. Probate in Hawaii belongs to the circuit courts (HRS § 603-21.6), and a case is filed in the circuit court of the judicial circuit where the decedent was domiciled at death (§ 560:3-201(a)(1)). There are four circuits: the First (Oahu), the Second (Maui, Molokai and Lanai, including Kalawao), the Third (Hawaii Island) and the Fifth (Kauai and Niihau). No county runs a probate court of its own.

The six routes fall into three groups. Three are court administrations that differ in who decides and how closely: informal probate goes to the REGISTRAR without a hearing, formal testacy is litigation before a judge on notice, and supervised administration keeps the whole estate under the court's continuing authority until discharge. Two are small-estate shortcuts that still run through the court: the clerk of the circuit court can administer an estate of property in Hawaii of a total value not exceeding $100,000 (§ 560:3-1205), and the § 560:3-1203 summary procedure lets an appointed personal representative distribute without creditor notice where the allowances and expenses would take the whole estate. The last one never reaches a court: the § 560:3-1201 affidavit collects personal property when the gross value of the estate in Hawaii is $100,000 or less.

Fees do not scale with the estate. HRS § 607-5(b)(14) sets one $100 probate fee paid once for each decedent's estate, whether the case is informal, formal or ancillary, and the clerk collects $215 at filing once the $50 administrative fee of § 607-5(c)(32) and the $65 indigent legal services surcharge of § 607-5.7(a)(2) are added. The one value-based charge is the clerk's own fee in a clerk-run small estate: three per cent of the market value of the first $100,000 of the gross estate (§ 560:3-1211).

Informal vs Formal at a Glance

Who decides

Tie

Informal: The REGISTRAR, on a verified application, with no hearing (HRS §§ 560:3-301 and 560:1-307)

Formal: A circuit judge, on a petition, after notice and hearing (§ 560:3-401)

Cost to open

Tie

Informal: $215 collected at filing, once for the estate

Formal: The same $215. A jury demand adds $200 (§ 607-5(c)(21))

Earliest appointment

Informal

Informal: 120 hours after the death for a priority applicant, or fourteen days after mailed notice for anyone else (§ 560:3-302)

Formal: After notice and a hearing, which takes longer

Creditor window

Tie

Informal: Four months from first publication, if the estate publishes; eighteen months after death if no notice is given

Formal: The same periods. § 560:3-803 does not vary with the route

Earliest closing

Tie

Informal: Six months after appointment, by verified statement (§ 560:3-1003(a))

Formal: The same floor for an unsupervised estate. Choosing formal does not shorten it

When it is the wrong choice

Tie

Informal: When anyone is likely to challenge the will or the appointment, since a formal petition halts informal action

Formal: When everyone agrees, because it adds notice and hearings for no gain

Best fit

Tie

Informal: An agreed family, a will nobody challenges, and one obvious person to appoint

Formal: A contested will, competing applicants, uncertain heirs, or a family that wants a judge to rule

Main Hawaii Probate Options

Informal Probate and Informal Appointment

HRS §§ 560:3-301 to 560:3-311, with the fee at § 607-5(b)(14)

An uncontested estate that needs a personal representative, with a will nobody is challenging or an agreed family

Threshold: No dollar threshold. The ordinary route where nothing is contested.

Filing Fee: $215 collected at filing ($100 probate fee, $50 administrative fee, $65 surcharge), paid once for the estate

Timeline: Appointment no sooner than 120 hours after the death (thirty days for a non-resident, with exceptions). Closing by sworn statement no sooner than six months after appointment (§ 560:3-1003(a))

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement. Counsel is usual once there is real estate to sell, a business to wind up or a claim in dispute

Formal Testacy Proceeding

HRS §§ 560:3-401 to 560:3-414

A contested will, competing applicants for appointment, uncertain heirs, or a family that wants a judge to rule

Threshold: No dollar threshold. Litigation before the circuit court to decide whether the decedent left a valid will.

Filing Fee: The same $215 collected at filing, once for the estate. A jury demand in a probate case is $200 more under § 607-5(c)(21)

Timeline: Longer than informal, because each contested step is heard on notice. A will must be offered within five years of the death unless a § 560:3-108 exception applies

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement, and rare without one. A formal proceeding is adversarial

Supervised Administration

HRS § 560:3-501

An estate where beneficiaries want the court overseeing each step, or where trust between the parties has broken down

Threshold: No dollar threshold.

Filing Fee: Governed by the same once-per-estate $100 probate fee. No separate figure is set for supervision

Timeline: The longest route, because distribution waits on court approval. The six-month closing by sworn statement is not available in supervised administration

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement, and uncommon without one

Clerk-Administered Small Estate

HRS §§ 560:3-1205 to 560:3-1211

A small Hawaii estate with a house or land that the affidavit cannot move, and no family member able or willing to serve

Threshold: Property in Hawaii of a total value not exceeding $100,000, with no personal representative appointed in Hawaii.

Filing Fee: No ordinary court costs. Actual expenses plus three per cent of the market value of the first $100,000 of the gross estate, paid to the State, at most $3,000 (§ 560:3-1211)

Timeline: The clerk distributes after sixty days for an estate of $10,000 or less and after four months above that (§ 560:3-1209)

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No

Summary Administration

HRS § 560:3-1203, closing under § 560:3-1204

An estate that the family allowances, the funeral bill and the last medical bills would use up once counted

Threshold: No dollar figure. The entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, must not exceed the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness.

Filing Fee: No separate fee. The estate is opened with $215 collected at filing

Timeline: Shorter than an ordinary administration because it skips creditor notice, and the estate can close at any time after distribution. It cannot start until the appointment and inventory are done

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement. The comparison against allowances and expenses is where advice pays for itself

Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit

HRS § 560:3-1201, effect at § 560:3-1202

An estate of accounts, belongings and vehicles under the line, where nobody needs to be appointed

Threshold: $100,000 or less, on the GROSS value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii, with nothing subtracted for liens. Hawaii real property counts toward it. Property outside Hawaii does not.

Filing Fee: $0. It is never filed, so no fee attaches. Certified death certificates cost $10 for the first and $4 for each further copy in the same request

Timeline: No statutory waiting period. Usable once a death certificate is in hand

Real Estate: No

Attorney: No

* Hawaii sets probate fees by statute for the whole State, so all four circuits charge the same. HRS § 607-5(b)(14) names $100, paid once for each decedent's estate, for probate, administration, a domiciliary foreign personal representative or ancillary administration, and the schedule folds later matters of the kind listed in items (4) to (9), such as instructions, approval of a sale or compromise and accountings, into that fee. What the clerk collects to open an estate is $215: the $100 probate fee, the $50 administrative fee of § 607-5(c)(32), and the $65 surcharge of § 607-5.7(a)(2). The Judiciary's List of Civil Filing Fees (updated 6/17/2022) prints all three under Probate. Do not quote the $200 civil action fee in § 607-5(b)(1): it belongs to ordinary civil suits, not probate. A jury demand in a probate case is $200 under § 607-5(c)(21).

Unfamiliar terms in the comparison? The Hawaii probate glossary defines them in plain language.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main Hawaii probate types?
Three court administrations, two small-estate routes that still use the court, and one affidavit that never reaches a court. Informal probate under HRS §§ 560:3-301 to 560:3-311 is the ordinary route: a verified application goes to the registrar, who can appoint a personal representative without a hearing. Formal testacy under §§ 560:3-401 to 560:3-414 is litigation before a judge on notice. Supervised administration under § 560:3-501 keeps the estate under the court's continuing authority. The clerk of the circuit court can administer an estate of property in Hawaii of $100,000 or less (§ 560:3-1205), and the § 560:3-1203 summary procedure lets an appointed personal representative skip creditor notice where allowances and expenses take the whole estate. Below all of them, the § 560:3-1201 affidavit collects personal property when the gross value of the estate in Hawaii is $100,000 or less.
Which court hears probate in Hawaii?
The circuit court. HRS § 603-21.6 gives the circuit courts power to probate wills, appoint personal representatives, determine heirs and devisees and decree distribution, and § 560:3-201(a)(1) puts the case in the circuit where the decedent was domiciled. Hawaii has four circuits: the First (Oahu), the Second (Maui, Molokai and Lanai, including Kalawao), the Third (Hawaii Island) and the Fifth (Kauai and Niihau). Guardianship is different: it is a family court matter under § 560:1-302(c), while a conservatorship stays in circuit court.
What is the difference between informal and formal probate in Hawaii?
Who decides, and whether there is a hearing. Informal probate is administrative: a verified application goes to the registrar, whose acts may be performed by a judge or by a person the court designates in a written order (§ 560:1-307), and no hearing is held. Formal testacy is judicial: a petition is heard by the circuit court after notice, and while it is pending the registrar may not act on informal applications. Both collect the same $215 at filing, because Hawaii's probate fee is paid once for each decedent's estate whatever the route.
How long do creditors have to file claims in Hawaii?
Four months from the first published notice, if the estate publishes one. Publishing is optional in Hawaii: the applicant or petitioner may publish a notice to creditors once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the circuit (§ 560:3-801(a)), and claims that arose before the death are then barred unless presented within four months after the first publication (§ 560:3-803(a)(1)(A)). A known creditor served with written notice has until the later of those four months or sixty days after service. If no notice is published or served, the bar is eighteen months after the death (§ 560:3-803(a)(2)).
How soon can a Hawaii estate be closed?
Six months after appointment at the earliest, in an unsupervised estate. HRS § 560:3-1003(a) lets a personal representative close by filing a verified statement no earlier than six months after the date of original appointment of a general personal representative, stating that the time for presenting claims has expired, the estate has been fully administered and distributed, and a copy has gone to the distributees and to unpaid, unbarred claimants the representative knows of. A § 560:3-1203 summary administration is the exception: it can close at any time after distribution under § 560:3-1204.
Does a Hawaii personal representative have to file an inventory?
An inventory is required within three months after appointment, but filing the original with the court is optional. HRS § 560:3-706 has a personal representative who is not a special administrator prepare an inventory of property owned by the decedent at death, listing each item with its fair market value at the date of death and any encumbrance, and file or mail it. A copy goes to interested persons who ask for one. The summary procedure in § 560:3-1203 cannot be used until the inventory and appraisal exist.
Is there a deadline to open probate in Hawaii?
For a will, five years. HRS § 560:3-108 bars a proceeding to probate a will and a related appointment, other than an ancillary proceeding, from being started more than five years after the death, subject to listed exceptions. A proceeding to adjudicate intestacy and appoint a personal representative can be started at any time unless there was a prior probate proceeding. The small estate affidavit has no deadline of its own, so the five-year limit matters most for a family that relies on the affidavit and later finds it needs to probate a will.
Does a Hawaii personal representative have to post a bond?
Usually not in an informal proceeding. HRS § 560:3-603(a) requires no bond in informal proceedings unless the will requires one, a special administrator's bond is requested, or § 560:3-605 applies. Where bond is required, the premium is set by the surety rather than by statute, so no fee schedule shows it.
How much does it cost to open probate in Hawaii?
$215 collected at filing, the same in every circuit and for every route. HRS § 607-5(b)(14) sets a $100 probate fee, paid once for each decedent's estate; § 607-5(c)(32) adds a $50 administrative fee; and § 607-5.7(a)(2) adds the $65 indigent legal services surcharge. The fee does not grow with the size of the estate. Newspaper publication of a notice to creditors, certified death certificates, recording fees for real estate and any bond premium are separate.
Does Hawaii charge an estate or inheritance tax?
Hawaii has an estate tax and no inheritance tax. The estate tax exclusion is tied to the federal amount as it stood for a death on December 31, 2017, which was $5,490,000, and it does not rise with the federal figure (HRS § 236E-6). The Hawaii return is due when the federal return is due, nine months after the death, under § 236E-9. The old inheritance tax in HRS chapter 236 was repealed in 1983. The estate tax is paid to the Department of Taxation, not to the court.
How is a personal representative paid in Hawaii?
By what is reasonable, not by a percentage of the estate. HRS § 560:3-719 entitles a personal representative to reasonable compensation for the personal representative's services, and Hawaii sets no statutory schedule. Where the will provides for compensation and there is no contract with the decedent about it, the personal representative may renounce the will's provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead, and may renounce all or part of the compensation. After an informal probate, the information sent to heirs and devisees must say that attorney fees charged to the estate will be reviewed by the probate court only if an interested person asks for a review (§ 560:3-306(c)).

Important: Choosing a Hawaii county picks a circuit, not a different court or a different price. Probate is heard by the circuit court of the judicial circuit where the decedent was domiciled (HRS § 560:3-201(a)(1)): Honolulu is the First Circuit, Maui County and Kalawao County are the Second, Hawaii County is the Third and Kauai County is the Fifth. Fees are statewide under § 607-5 and § 607-5.7. What is local is the circuit's probate desk (the Estate and Guardianship Branch in the First, Third and Fifth Circuits, and the Legal Documents Branch in the Second), and the newspaper of general circulation in that circuit that publishes any notice to creditors.

Legal Authority: HRS § 603-21.6 (circuit court probate jurisdiction), § 560:1-307 (registrar), § 560:3-201 (venue), § 560:3-108 (ultimate time limit), §§ 560:3-301 to 560:3-311 (informal probate and appointment), §§ 560:3-401 to 560:3-414 (formal testacy), § 560:3-501 (supervised administration), § 560:3-603 (bond), § 560:3-706 (inventory), §§ 560:3-801 and 560:3-803 (creditor notice and claim bars), § 560:3-1003 (closing by sworn statement), § 560:3-1201 and § 560:3-1202 (affidavit and its effect), §§ 560:3-1203 and 560:3-1204 (summary administration), §§ 560:3-1205 to 560:3-1211 (clerk administration), § 607-5 (circuit court costs) and § 607-5.7 (indigent legal services surcharge).. Last Verified: September 2026.

SourcesOfficial references used for this page

This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for attorney review. Laws and fees may change. Verify current requirements with your local court clerk before filing.

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