Hawaii Small Estate Affidavit: Collection of Personal Property

Settled Estate puts the Hawaii small estate affidavit limit at $100,000, subject to conditions this page sets out in full. Real property cannot pass this way. Read from HRS § 560:3-1201. Last verified September 2026.

Hawaii measures the whole estate in the State, house included, at gross value with no deduction for a mortgage. The affidavit itself moves only personal property, so a family with a home has two questions to answer, not one.

Based on HRS § 560:3-1201

By Settled Estate EditorialPublished: January 15, 2026Updated: May 31, 2026

Does Hawaii Have a Small Estate Affidavit?

Yes. HRS § 560:3-1201 is titled collection of personal property by affidavit. A claimed successor presents a death certificate and a sworn affidavit to whoever holds the decedent's personal property, and that person must pay, deliver or re-register it. The route is open when the gross value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii does not exceed $100,000, no application or petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted in Hawaii, and the affidavit states the successors' entitlement and relationship to the decedent. Three features set Hawaii apart from most states that use the uniform act. The measure is GROSS, so a mortgage or other lien is not subtracted. Hawaii real estate counts toward the $100,000 even though the affidavit cannot transfer it. And the statute states no waiting period after the death.

Do you qualify?

Qualifying threshold: $100,000 or less, measured on the GROSS value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii (HRS § 560:3-1201(a)(1)). Nothing is subtracted for a mortgage, lien or other debt, property outside Hawaii is not counted, and Hawaii real estate counts in full even though the affidavit cannot transfer it.Gross, not net, is the part families most often get wrong. A $150,000 condominium carrying a $120,000 mortgage counts as $150,000 under § 560:3-1201(a)(1), so that estate is over the line before a single bank account is added. Hawaii's own summary procedure in § 560:3-1203 does subtract liens and encumbrances, but the affidavit section does not, and the two should not be read together. A registered motor vehicle can pass on the affidavit whatever it is worth. The statute does not say whether the vehicle's value is added to the $100,000 test for the rest of the estate, so where a car is what carries the estate over $100,000, ask the circuit court clerk or a Hawaii lawyer before relying on the affidavit for the other property.
Waiting period: None stated in the statute. Unlike the uniform act's thirty days, HRS § 560:3-1201 as compiled sets no waiting period after the death, so the affidavit can be presented as soon as a death certificate is in hand and the other conditions are met. The affidavit also has no deadline of its own. The outer limit that matters is on the fallback: § 560:3-108 bars a proceeding to probate a will, other than an ancillary one, more than five years after the death, subject to listed exceptions, while a proceeding to adjudicate intestacy can be started at any time unless there was a prior probate proceeding.
Court filing fee: $0 in court fees, because the affidavit is never filed with a court. It goes, with a death certificate, to the bank, company or person holding the property (§ 560:3-1201(b)). The real cost is certified death certificates from the Hawaii Department of Health, which § 338-14.5 prices at $10 for the first certified copy and $4 for each further copy in the same request. Ten copies ordered at once cost $46, while ten separate requests cost $100, so order every copy you need in one request.
Attorney: Not typically neededNo statutory requirement. The affidavit is made by or on behalf of the claimed successors and is presented to the holder of the property, so no court appearance is involved. Advice earns its cost where the gross estate sits near $100,000, where a mortgaged home is part of the estate, where a vehicle might decide which side of the line the estate falls on, where more than one person claims the same property, or where the decedent received Medicaid (Med-QUEST) benefits and the Department of Human Services may present its own affidavit with priority.
Real estate: Not covered by this procedureA Hawaii house counts toward the $100,000 and cannot be transferred by the affidavit, and both facts hold at once. HRS § 560:3-1201(a)(1) measures the gross value of the decedent's estate in this State, which includes Hawaii real property at full value, and the same section transfers only personal property: debts owed to the decedent, tangible personal property, and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, chose in action or other intangible personal property. Hawaii real estate moves instead through a transfer on death deed recorded before the death, joint ownership with a survivor, a trust, a probate case, or the clerk-administered route in § 560:3-1205, which reaches real property because the clerk acts as personal representative for an estate of property in Hawaii of a total value not exceeding $100,000. Real property instruments are recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances or, for Land Court property, filed with the assistant registrar of the Land Court.

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Main Requirements

Gross Value in Hawaii of $100,000 or Less

HRS § 560:3-1201(a)(1) caps the gross value of the decedent's estate in this State at $100,000. Gross means before subtracting liens, mortgages or other debts. Property outside Hawaii is not counted, and Hawaii real property counts at full value.

No Personal Representative Appointed or Applied For in Hawaii

Section 560:3-1201(a)(2) requires that no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in this State. The test reaches Hawaii proceedings only.

The Signers Are the Successors Entitled to the Property

The affidavit is made by or on behalf of the claimed successor or successors, who must state that they are entitled to the property and explain their relationship to the decedent. The Department of Human Services may instead present the affidavit where it has a claim against the estate under § 346-15 or § 346-37.

Personal Property Only

The affidavit transfers debts owed to the decedent, tangible personal property, and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, chose in action or other intangible personal property. It cannot transfer real estate, even though Hawaii real estate counts toward the $100,000.

A Death Certificate Goes With It

The affidavit is presented together with a death certificate for the decedent. Certified copies cost $10 for the first and $4 for each further copy in the same request under § 338-14.5.

No Waiting Period

HRS § 560:3-1201 as compiled states no waiting period after the death. That is a difference from the uniform act's thirty days, and it was read at the section rather than assumed.

A Will Does Not Close the Route

Nothing in § 560:3-1201 limits the affidavit to estates without a will. A devisee named in the will is a successor entitled to the property and can make the affidavit.

Medicaid Recovery Takes Priority

The affidavit of the Department of Human Services has priority over any other claim presented under § 560:3-1201. Under § 346-37(a) the Department files a medical-assistance claim only where the recipient was fifty-five or older when the assistance was received, or was an inpatient in a nursing facility or a similar inpatient setting, and there is no surviving spouse and no surviving child who is under twenty-one, blind or disabled.

Available Small-Estate Options

Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit, HRS § 560:3-1201

Limit: Gross value of the estate in Hawaii at $100,000 or less, with no deduction for liens. Reaches debts owed to the decedent, tangible personal property, stocks and other intangible personal property, and a registered vehicle regardless of value. Reaches no real estate
Real Estate: Not included
Timeline: No statutory waiting period. Usable once a death certificate is in hand, then as long as the holder takes to pay or deliver
Typical Fee: $0. Presented to the holder, never filed. Budget $10 for the first certified death certificate and $4 for each further copy in the same request

Clerk-Administered Small Estate, HRS § 560:3-1205

Limit: Property in Hawaii of a total value not exceeding $100,000, with no personal representative appointed in Hawaii. The clerk of the circuit court acts as personal representative and can reach real property
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: The clerk distributes after sixty days from publication for an estate of $10,000 or less, and after four months above $10,000 (§§ 560:3-1206 and 560:3-1209)
Typical 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)

Summary Administration, HRS § 560:3-1203

Limit: No dollar figure. The whole estate, less liens and encumbrances, must not exceed the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, administration costs, reasonable funeral expenses and reasonable last-illness medical and hospital expenses
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: Runs inside an opened estate after appointment and inventory, then closes on a verified statement under § 560:3-1204
Typical Fee: No separate fee. The estate is opened with $215 collected at filing

Informal Probate, HRS §§ 560:3-301 to 560:3-311

Limit: No dollar threshold. The ordinary uncontested route, granted by the registrar rather than heard by a judge
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: The registrar can appoint no sooner than 120 hours after the death, and the estate can close by sworn statement no sooner than six months after appointment (§§ 560:3-307(a) and 560:3-1003(a))
Typical Fee: $215 collected at filing: the $100 probate fee of HRS § 607-5(b)(14), the $50 administrative fee of § 607-5(c)(32) and the $65 surcharge of § 607-5.7(a)(2)

The measure counts the house. The affidavit cannot move it.

Hawaii is a state where the small-estate figure and the small-estate mechanism cover different property, and most wrong answers here come from treating them as one. HRS § 560:3-1201(a)(1) measures the gross value of the decedent's estate in this State, so a Hawaii home counts at full value with nothing subtracted for a mortgage, and it often carries the estate over $100,000 on its own. The same section transfers only personal property, so even an estate comfortably under the line cannot pass the home this way. Do not treat Hawaii as a state that leaves real property out of the measure, and do not treat it as a state that closes the route when real property exists: it does neither. Talk to a Hawaii probate lawyer or the circuit court's probate clerk where the gross estate is near $100,000, where a mortgaged home is involved, where a vehicle may decide which side of the line the estate falls on, or where the decedent received Medicaid and the Department of Human Services may present its own affidavit first.

Step-by-Step Process

Add Up the Gross Value of Everything in Hawaii

HRS § 560:3-1201(a)(1) tests the gross value of the decedent's estate in this State. Count solely owned bank and brokerage accounts, money owed to the decedent, household goods, jewelry and other belongings, and any Hawaii house, condominium or land titled in the decedent's name alone, all at full value. Do not subtract a mortgage, lien or other debt. Leave out property located outside Hawaii, and property that passes another way and is not part of the estate at all, such as joint tenancy with a survivor, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, life insurance with a living named beneficiary, and real estate covered by a recorded transfer on death deed.

Check the Total Against $100,000

If the gross value is $100,000 or less, the affidavit route is open for the personal property. If it is more, the affidavit is closed and the estate needs another route, such as a probate case. Where the total is close to the line and a registered vehicle is part of it, note that the statute lets the vehicle pass on the affidavit regardless of value but does not say whether its value is added to the test for the other property. Ask the circuit court clerk or a Hawaii lawyer before relying on either reading.

Confirm No Personal Representative Is Being Appointed

Section 560:3-1201(a)(2) requires that no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in Hawaii. Call the probate clerk of the circuit court in the circuit where the decedent lived before signing. If a case is already open, the affidavit is not available and the personal representative collects the property instead.

Get Certified Death Certificates

The holder of the property will want a death certificate with the affidavit. Order certified copies from the Hawaii Department of Health, which charges $10 for the first certified copy and $4 for each further copy in the same request under § 338-14.5. Only an applicant with a direct and tangible interest can obtain a certified copy under § 338-18(b), a group that includes the spouse, a parent and a descendant. Order all the copies you expect to need at once, because each new request starts again at $10.

Prepare and Sign the Affidavit

The affidavit is made by or on behalf of the claimed successor or successors. It must state the facts in § 560:3-1201(a): that the gross value of the estate in Hawaii does not exceed $100,000, that no application or petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted in Hawaii, and that the claimed successors are entitled to the property, with an explanation of their relationship to the decedent. A will does not close the route, because a devisee under the will is a successor entitled to the property. We have not recorded a Judiciary-published form for this affidavit, so ask the bank or company holding the property whether it uses its own.

Present It to Whoever Holds the Property

Deliver the affidavit and a death certificate to the bank, employer, transfer agent or other holder, or to whoever issues the evidence of ownership. Under § 560:3-1201(b) that person must pay, deliver, transfer or re-register the property to the successor. Under § 560:3-1202 the holder is discharged as if it had dealt with a personal representative, and a holder who refuses can be compelled in a proceeding brought for the purpose. Where more than one person has equal standing, Hawaii Probate Rule 91 has the holder transfer to the first person who presents an affidavit in proper form.

Handle a Vehicle Through the County Office

A motor vehicle registered in the decedent's name may be transferred under § 560:3-1201 regardless of its value. Vehicle titles in Hawaii are handled by the county director of finance, so the county vehicle office will have its own paperwork for the transfer. Bring the affidavit and a certified death certificate.

Keep a Record of What You Received

Collecting on the affidavit does not settle who owns the property. Section 560:3-1202 makes any person who receives property on the affidavit answerable and accountable for it to any personal representative of the estate appointed later, or to any other person with a superior right. Keep a list of each item and account collected, with dates and amounts.

County Note: Hawaii has no county probate courts. Probate is heard by the circuit court of the judicial circuit where the decedent was domiciled (HRS § 560:3-201(a)(1)), and there are four: the First Circuit (Oahu), the Second (Maui, Molokai and Lanai, including Kalawao), the Third (Hawaii Island) and the Fifth (Kauai and Niihau). The affidavit route never reaches any of them, and the court fees for the other routes are set by statute for the whole State. The circuit matters for the affidavit in one way only: before signing, confirm with that circuit's probate clerk that no application or petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted.

FAQ: Hawaii Small Estate Affidavit

Does Hawaii have a small estate affidavit?

Yes. HRS § 560:3-1201 lets a claimed successor collect a decedent's personal property by presenting a death certificate and an affidavit to whoever holds it, with no court case. It is open when the gross value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii is $100,000 or less, no application or petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted in Hawaii, and the affidavit states the successors' entitlement and relationship to the decedent. The holder must then pay, deliver, transfer or re-register the property.

What is the Hawaii small estate limit?

$100,000, measured on the gross value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii under HRS § 560:3-1201(a)(1). Gross means nothing is subtracted for a mortgage or other debt, so a house worth $150,000 with a $120,000 mortgage counts as $150,000. Property outside Hawaii is not counted. The figure is not indexed to inflation and last changed in the 2000 session, so it moves only when the Legislature amends the section.

Does a house count toward the Hawaii $100,000 limit?

Yes, at full value, and the affidavit still cannot transfer it. Section 560:3-1201(a)(1) measures the gross value of the whole estate in Hawaii, which includes real property, but the affidavit only reaches personal property. So a family with a $90,000 condominium and $20,000 in the bank is over the line, and even a family under the line cannot move the condominium this way. The house needs a transfer on death deed, joint ownership with a survivor, a trust, a probate case, or the clerk-administered route in § 560:3-1205.

Is there a waiting period for a Hawaii small estate affidavit?

No. HRS § 560:3-1201 as compiled states no waiting period after the death, unlike the thirty days in the uniform act that many other states follow. The affidavit can be presented once a death certificate is available and the other conditions are met. It also has no deadline of its own, though § 560:3-108 limits a later proceeding to probate a will to five years after the death, subject to listed exceptions.

Can I use the Hawaii affidavit if there is a will?

Yes. Nothing in § 560:3-1201 limits the route to estates without a will. The affidavit is made by or on behalf of the claimed successors, and a devisee named in the will is a successor entitled to the property. What a will does not change is the $100,000 gross-value test and the rule that the affidavit moves personal property only.

How much does a Hawaii small estate affidavit cost?

Nothing in court fees, because nothing is filed with a court. The affidavit goes to the holder of the property. Budget for certified death certificates: § 338-14.5 sets $10 for the first certified copy and $4 for each further copy in the same request, so ordering all copies at once is cheaper than ordering them one at a time.

Official Forms, Sources, and VerificationOfficial references used for this page

HRS § 560:3-1201, Collection of personal property by affidavitHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
HRS § 560:3-1202, Effect of affidavitHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
HRS § 560:3-1205, Estates of $100,000 or less; clerk of court to administerHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
HRS § 560:3-1211, Exemption from costsHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
HRS § 560:3-1203, Small estates; summary administration procedureHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
HRS § 560:3-108, Probate, testacy and appointment proceedings; ultimate time limitHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
HRS § 346-37, Recovery of payments and costs of medical assistanceHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
HRS § 338-14.5, Copies of certificate; feesHawaii State Legislature. Compilation through the 2025 session, accessed September 24, 2026.
Hawaii Probate Rules, Rule 91, Affidavits of CollectionHawaii State Judiciary. Current court rules, accessed September 24, 2026.

Information current as of May 31, 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.