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Hawaii Trust Administration
Support GuideHawaii27 min read

Hawaii Trust Administration

Hawaii trusts under HRS 554D-813 require two 60-day notices before distribution.

By Settled Editorial

Hawaii trust administration is the work a successor trustee does after the settlor dies, and HRS 554D-813 sets its calendar. Within sixty days of accepting the trusteeship you notify the qualified beneficiaries, within sixty days of learning the trust has become irrevocable you notify them again, and you send a report at least once a year and at the end. Hawaii's version of the code stands out in four places: those two notices cannot be waived by the trust document, trustee pay follows a statutory schedule in HRS 607-18, a contest can run five years, and a beneficiary gets sixty days to object to a final distribution plan.

Read this page beside how the trust was set up, which covers the settlor's side of the same document. Every section cited below was read on September 24, 2026 in the Hawaii Revised Statutes on the Legislature's data site, together with its history note. Hawaii's Uniform Trust Code, chapter 554D, came in with Act 32 of 2021 and took effect January 1, 2022, and every section of it cited here still carries only that Act in its history. The compiled statutes run through the 2025 session, so the 2026 Acts were screened separately, and none of them amends chapter 554D or HRS 607-18. The older trust-administration rules in article VII of the probate code, HRS 560:7-101 onward, are repealed. This page explains Hawaii law rather than the terms of one trust. Read the instrument first, then confirm anything on a clock with a licensed Hawaii attorney.

Duty or clockLengthCounted fromStatute
Notice of your acceptance60 daysThe day you accept the trusteeship554D-813(c)(2)
Notice that the trust became irrevocable60 daysThe day you learn of it, usually the settlor's death554D-813(c)(3)
Trustee's reportAt least annually, and at terminationThe reporting period you keep554D-813(d)
Creditor bar after a trustee's published notice4 monthsThe first publication560:3-801(f), 560:3-803(a)
Creditor bar with no notice at all18 monthsThe date of death560:3-803(a)(2)
Contest of a trust revocable at deathThe earlier of 5 years or 90 daysThe death, or the day you send the instrument and notice554D-604(a)
Objection to a distribution proposal60 daysThe day the proposal was sent554D-817(a)
Beneficiary's suit for breach1 year, otherwise 3 yearsA report disclosing the claim, otherwise your exit or the trust's end554D-1005

Who Counts as a Qualified Beneficiary in Hawaii

Both 60-day notices go to the qualified beneficiaries rather than to everyone named in the document. HRS 554D-103 defines a qualified beneficiary as a beneficiary who, on the date the question is decided, is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal, would be one if the current distributees' interests ended without ending the trust, or would be one if the trust ended that day. A remote contingent taker who fits none of the three is still a beneficiary, and is not a qualified one.

Three outsiders hold the same rights under HRS 554D-110. A charity expressly named to receive distributions under a charitable trust qualifies on the same three tests. A person appointed to enforce a trust for the care of an animal, or another noncharitable purpose trust under 554D-408 or 554D-409, qualifies. So does the state attorney general, for a charitable trust administered in Hawaii.

One Hawaii definition catches mainland readers. HRS 554D-103 says "spouse" includes individuals who are reciprocal beneficiaries, so every rule below that names a spouse reaches a registered reciprocal beneficiary too.

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The Duties in HRS 554D-813, Section by Section

Before the death, the trustee answers to one person. HRS 554D-603(a) says that while the settlor of a revocable trust is alive, the trustee's duties are owed exclusively to the settlor, and the other beneficiaries have no right to notice, information or reports under 554D-813. Hawaii adds a ladder for a settlor who loses capacity: 554D-813(a) lets the trustee report to the person the trust designates, then the settlor's conservator, guardian, agent under a durable power of attorney, or a spouse who is also a beneficiary, in that order. With none of them available, the reports go to the qualified beneficiaries.

After the death, the duties widen. Here is the list:

DutyWhenStatute
Keep the qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed, and answer their requests promptlyThroughout, unless a request is unreasonable554D-813(b)
Send a copy of the trust instrumentPromptly, when a qualified beneficiary asks554D-813(c)(1)
Notify of your acceptance, with your name, address and telephone numberWithin 60 days of accepting554D-813(c)(2)
Notify of the trust's existence, the settlor, the right to a copy and the right to a reportWithin 60 days of learning the trust is irrevocable554D-813(c)(3)
Notify of any change in the method or rate of your compensationIn advance554D-813(c)(4)
Send the trustee's reportAt least annually, and at termination554D-813(d)

The report goes to the distributees or permissible distributees of trust income or principal, and to other qualified beneficiaries who ask for it. It covers the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, the source and amount of your compensation, and a list of the trust assets with their market values where that is feasible. When a trusteeship falls vacant with no cotrustee left, the former trustee sends a report to the qualified beneficiaries, and a personal representative, conservator or guardian may send one for a trustee who has died or lost capacity.

Two Hawaii lines sit at the end of the section. Under 554D-813(e), a qualified beneficiary may waive the right to reports or other information and may later withdraw the waiver for future reports. Under 554D-813(f), you may charge a qualified beneficiary a reasonable fee for providing information under the section. Keep any waiver in writing with the trust records.

The 60-day notices have a start date. HRS 554D-813(i) says they do not apply to a trustee who accepted before January 1, 2022, to an irrevocable trust created before that date, or to a revocable trust that became irrevocable before it. A long-running family trust may owe neither notice while still owing the annual report and the duty to keep beneficiaries informed.

HRS 554D-109 governs how notice goes out. First-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the last known home or business, or a properly directed email all count. Notice need not go to a person whose identity or location you cannot reasonably find, and the person entitled to it may waive it.

The Trust Document Cannot Switch Off the Notices

HRS 554D-105(a) makes most of the code a set of defaults: except as the terms of the trust provide, the chapter governs the trustee's duties and powers and the beneficiaries' rights. Subsection (b) then lists fourteen rules the terms cannot override, and two of them reach the successor trustee directly.

Paragraph (8) protects the duty under 554D-813(c)(2) and (3) to notify the qualified beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust of the trust's existence, of the trustee's identity, and of their right to request reports. Paragraph (9) protects the duty under 554D-813(b) to respond when a qualified beneficiary of an irrevocable trust asks for reports and other information reasonably related to the administration. So a Hawaii instrument that tells the successor trustee to keep the beneficiaries in the dark does not excuse the two 60-day notices, and it does not excuse an answer to a written request.

The same list protects three more things a trustee runs into: the court's power under 554D-708(b) over a trustee's compensation, the court's power under 554D-702 over a bond, and every period of limitation for starting a court case.

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Accepting the Job and Taking Control

Acceptance has its own rules. HRS 554D-701(a) says a named trustee accepts by complying with the method the trust sets out, or, where the trust sets no exclusive method, by knowingly accepting delivery of trust property, knowingly exercising powers or performing duties, or otherwise indicating acceptance. Doing nothing is also a choice: under 554D-701(b), a named trustee who does not accept within a reasonable time after learning of the designation is treated as having declined.

Subsection (c) leaves two safe moves before you commit. You may act to preserve the trust property if you send a rejection within a reasonable time afterward, addressed to the settlor or, after the settlor's death, to the named cotrustee, then the successor trustee, then a qualified beneficiary. You may also inspect trust property for environmental liability or any other purpose.

If the named successor will not serve, HRS 554D-704(c) fills the vacancy in a family trust in this order: the person the trust names or a person the trust authorizes to appoint one, then a person all the qualified beneficiaries agree on, then a person the court appoints. A former trustee who resigned or was removed keeps the duties and powers needed to protect the property until it is delivered, and must deliver it within a reasonable time under 554D-707. HRS 554D-812(a) then puts the burden on you to take reasonable steps to make a former trustee or anyone else hand over trust property.

A bond is the exception. HRS 554D-702(a) requires one only if the court finds it is needed to protect the beneficiaries, or the trust requires one and the court has not dispensed with it. A bank or trust company qualified under chapter 412 to do trust business in Hawaii never needs one.

Title companies and banks usually want proof you are in charge. HRS 554D-1013 lets you hand a person other than a beneficiary a certification of trust in place of the full instrument, stating the trust's existence and date, the settlor, the acting trustee's name and address, the trustee's powers, whether it is revocable, cotrustee signing authority and whether delegation to an agent is allowed. Any one trustee may sign it. The recipient may ask for the excerpts that name the trustee and grant the power used in the transaction, and a person who demands the whole instrument anyway is liable for damages if a court finds the demand was not in good faith.

The Everyday Standard of Care

The general rule is short. HRS 554D-801 says that once you accept, you administer the trust in good faith, following its terms and purposes and the beneficiaries' interests. HRS 554D-804 asks you to act as a prudent person would, with reasonable care, skill and caution.

Records come next. HRS 554D-810 requires adequate records of the administration, trust property kept separate from your own, and the trust's interest shown in records held by someone other than a trustee or beneficiary where feasible. Open a separate account in the trust's name and run every receipt and payment through it.

Investments need attention early. HRS 554D-904 gives you a reasonable time after accepting the trusteeship or receiving the assets to review them and decide what to keep and what to sell, so the portfolio fits the trust's purposes, terms and distribution needs.

Loyalty is the rule families test hardest. HRS 554D-802 presumes a conflict in a deal with your spouse, your or your spouse's descendants, siblings or parents and their spouses, your agent or attorney, or a business in which you hold a stake large enough to affect your judgment. An affected beneficiary can undo that deal unless one of five escapes in 554D-802(b) applies, such as authorization in the trust terms or court approval. When the trust holds a fund your firm is paid to advise, 554D-802(e) requires at least a yearly notice of the rate and method of that pay to everyone entitled to the annual report.

Online accounts follow chapter 556A. Where you are not the original user, HRS 556A-13 lets you reach a catalogue of messages and other digital assets with a written request, a certified copy of the trust instrument, a certification under penalty of perjury that the trust exists and you are the acting trustee, and, if the custodian asks, an account identifier or evidence linking the account to the trust. The content of messages under 556A-12 also needs a trust instrument that consents to that disclosure. The trustee's digital access walks through the request.

Trustee Pay Follows a Statutory Schedule

This is where Hawaii differs most from the rest of the country. The Uniform Trust Code's default is simply reasonable compensation. HRS 554D-708(a) instead says a trustee's compensation "shall be as set forth in sections 607-18 and 607-20," and HRS 607-18 prints the numbers.

The schedule applies unless the trust instrument provides otherwise, the settlor and trustee agreed otherwise, or after the settlor's death all the beneficiaries and the trustee agree otherwise. Paid that way, the fee is deemed reasonable. HRS 607-18(e) adds that a trust promising "reasonable compensation," "compensation," or "statutory compensation" authorizes pay under the section, so a short fee clause usually leads back to the schedule.

For an individual trustee, HRS 607-18(c) sets:

FeeAmountStatute
On acceptance1% of the gross fair market value of the assets, to the first trustee who is not the settlor607-18(c)(1)(A)
On income5% of income received during the year, paid no more than quarterly607-18(c)(2)(A)
On principal, each year0.5% of the first $5,000,000, one-third of 1% of the next $3,000,000, one-fifth of 1% of the next $2,000,000, and 0.1% above $10,000,000, valued on the first day of the fiscal year607-18(c)(2)(B)
Annual minimum$3,000 in total607-18(c)(2)(C)
On termination1% of the gross fair market value of the assets on the termination date607-18(c)(3)
Special servicesWhatever the court finds just, or what all beneficiaries agree to without the court607-18(c)(4)

Two or more individual trustees split the schedule equally unless they agree otherwise. An individual serving beside a bank or trust company takes half. Banks, trust companies and individuals who serve as fiduciaries in the ordinary course of business follow 607-18(b) instead: reasonable compensation under their published fee schedules, with advance written notice of any change to the vested beneficiaries after the settlor's death. The schedule does not apply to charitable trusts, where HRS 607-20 limits pay to what is reasonable.

The court keeps a check. HRS 554D-708(b) lets any interested person petition the court to review who you hired, what they were paid, how you valued the trust for the fee, and any extra pay for special services, and the court may order a refund of excess pay. Give the beneficiaries advance notice of any change in the method or rate of your pay under 554D-813(c)(4).

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Creditors of the Settlor, and the Trustee's Own Notice

HRS 554D-505(a)(3) answers the question families ask first. After the settlor's death, and subject to the settlor's right to direct which assets pay which debts, property of a trust that was revocable at death answers for the settlor's creditors, the costs of the probate estate, funeral expenses, and statutory allowances to a surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary and children, to the extent the probate estate is inadequate.

The probate code then gives the trustee the same deadline an estate gets. HRS 560:3-803(a) bars a claim that arose before the death against "the estate, personal representative, decedent's trustee, and heirs and devisees" unless it is presented within four months after the first publication of a notice to creditors, or eighteen months after the death if no notice was published or mailed. A claim based on a contract you signed as trustee has four months from when your performance was due under 560:3-803(c).

You do not need a probate to start the four-month clock. HRS 560:3-801(f) lets the trustee or successor trustee of any trust the decedent created publish a notice once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial circuit where the decedent was domiciled, or where a petition for a personal representative is filed. The notice gives your name and address and tells creditors to present claims to you within four months of the first publication. Act 7 of 2024 cut that run from three weeks to two. Publishing a trustee creditor notice covers the claim calendar in full.

Contests Run Up to Five Years

HRS 554D-604(a) gives a person who wants to contest a trust that was revocable at death the earlier of two deadlines: five years after the settlor's death, or ninety days after the trustee sent that person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's name and address, and the time allowed to bring a case. Five years is a long exposure, and the packet is how you cut it to ninety days. Leave out any element and the five-year period keeps running.

You may distribute while a contest window is open. HRS 554D-604(b) protects a trustee who distributes under the trust's terms unless you know of a pending case contesting the trust, or a potential contestant notified you of a possible case and filed it within sixty days of that notice. Subsection (c) makes a beneficiary of a trust later held invalid return what they received, which argues for keeping a reserve.

Winding the Trust Up

HRS 554D-817(a) offers a way to close out objections without a hearing. On termination or partial termination, you may send the beneficiaries a proposal for distribution, and a beneficiary who does not object within sixty days after it was sent loses the right to object, provided the proposal told them about the right and the deadline. Subsection (b) then requires you to distribute promptly, keeping a reasonable reserve for debts, expenses and taxes.

Releases need care. A beneficiary's release is invalid under 554D-817(c) if you obtained it through improper conduct or without disclosing the material facts, and 554D-1009 says the same about consent and ratification as a defense. The final report under 554D-813(d) goes out at termination on the same terms as the annual one.

Then the limitation period. HRS 554D-1005(a) bars a beneficiary's suit for breach of trust more than one year after the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim and stated the time allowed to sue. A report is adequate under subsection (b) if it gave enough information that the beneficiary knew of the claim or should have asked. Without such a report, subsection (c) allows three years from the first of your removal or resignation, the end of that beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust. A detailed final report that names the deadline shortens three years of exposure to one.

Where a dispute stops short of court, HRS 554D-111 allows a binding nonjudicial settlement agreement among the interested persons on any trust matter, including approval of a trustee's report or accounting, a trustee's resignation or appointment and pay, and a trustee's liability. The agreement is valid only to the extent it does not violate a material purpose of the trust and contains terms a court could approve.

When the Court Gets Involved

Most Hawaii trusts never see a judge. HRS 554D-201(b) says a trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it. The "court" in chapter 554D is the circuit court, and 554D-204 puts venue in the judicial circuit where the trust is administered. An interested person can petition that court under 554D-201(c) to appoint or remove a trustee, review compensation, compel or review a report or accounting, or ask for instructions.

One group of trustees does report to the court. HRS 554D-813(g) requires every trustee acting under a court appointment, or an appointment that needs court approval, to file an annual account with the court showing all receipts and disbursements and a full inventory, unless the prior trustee had no duty to file. The court may allow filings every two or three years. When a trustee misses a filing, the clerk sends a notice, and a trustee who still has not filed thirty days later is cited to show cause why they should not be held in contempt under HRS 710-1077, and may be removed. Subsection (h) excuses, unless the instrument requires accounts, a trustee the court added to or substituted for a trustee named in the instrument, and a trustee appointed under the instrument whose appointment a court confirmed. A successor trustee named in a revocable trust who takes office without going to court falls outside the annual-filing rule.

Property the Settlor Never Retitled

A trust holds only what was transferred into it. Anything left in the settlor's own name goes through probate or a small-estate route, and a pour-over will sends it to you only after the personal representative finishes. When a probate runs alongside the trust, the personal representative handles that side.

Hawaii's collection affidavit covers smaller leftovers. HRS 560:3-1201 lets a successor collect personal property on an affidavit and a death certificate where the gross value of the decedent's estate in Hawaii does not exceed $100,000 and no personal representative has been sought or appointed in Hawaii, with motor vehicles transferable under the same section regardless of value. The Hawaii small estate affidavit walks through it, and the Hawaii probate process covers anything larger.

When to Bring in a Hawaii Attorney

Some trusts outgrow a spreadsheet. Talk to a licensed Hawaii attorney when a beneficiary objects to a distribution or to your fee, when someone warns you of a contest, when you are unsure whether the 607-18 schedule or a fee clause controls your pay, when the trust holds Hawaii real property, a leasehold interest or a business, when the probate estate looks too small to cover the settlor's debts, or when a court appointed you and the annual-account rule may apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the deadlines for a Hawaii successor trustee?

Two 60-day notices, then a yearly report. HRS 554D-813(c)(2) gives you sixty days after accepting the trusteeship to tell the qualified beneficiaries you accepted, with your name, address and telephone number. Section 554D-813(c)(3) gives you sixty days from the day you learn a revocable trust has become irrevocable, usually the settlor's death, to tell them the trust exists, who the settlor was, that they may request a copy of the trust instrument, and that they have a right to a trustee's report. Section 554D-813(d) then requires a report at least annually and again when the trust ends.

Can a Hawaii trust document cancel the 60-day notices?

No. HRS 554D-105(a) lets the terms of a trust override most of the code, and 554D-105(b) lists fourteen rules they cannot override. Paragraph (8) of that list is the duty under 554D-813(c)(2) and (3) to notify qualified beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust of the trust's existence, the trustee's identity and their right to request reports. Paragraph (9) is the duty to answer a qualified beneficiary of an irrevocable trust who asks for reports and other information about the administration. A clause telling the trustee to stay silent does not remove either duty.

How much can a Hawaii trustee charge?

HRS 554D-708(a) points to HRS 607-18. Unless the trust instrument says otherwise, or the beneficiaries and trustee agree otherwise after the settlor's death, an individual trustee gets 1 percent of the gross fair market value of the assets on acceptance if the trustee is the first one who is not the settlor, 5 percent of income received each year, an annual fee on principal of one-half of 1 percent of the first $5,000,000 on a sliding scale, a minimum of $3,000 a year, and 1 percent at termination. Banks, trust companies and professional fiduciaries charge reasonable compensation under their published schedules instead.

How long does someone have to contest a Hawaii revocable trust?

The earlier of five years after the settlor's death, or ninety days after the trustee sent that person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's name and address, and the time allowed to bring a proceeding. That is HRS 554D-604(a). Sending the packet is how a trustee shortens a five-year exposure to ninety days.

Can creditors of the person who died reach a Hawaii trust?

Yes, to the extent the probate estate falls short. HRS 554D-505(a)(3) makes property of a trust that was revocable at death answer for the settlor's creditors, the costs of administering the estate, funeral expenses and statutory allowances to a surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary and children, where the probate estate is inadequate. HRS 560:3-803 bars most claims against the decedent's trustee unless presented within four months after a published notice, or eighteen months after the death if no notice was given. HRS 560:3-801(f) lets the trustee publish that notice.

Does a Hawaii trustee have to file accounts with the court?

Only some trustees. HRS 554D-201(b) says a trust is not under continuing court supervision unless the court orders it. HRS 554D-813(g) requires a trustee acting under a court appointment, or an appointment that needs court approval, to file an annual account of receipts, disbursements and property with the court, subject to the exceptions in 554D-813(g) and (h). A trustee who ignores the clerk's notice for thirty days can be cited for contempt and removed.

How long can a beneficiary wait to sue a Hawaii trustee?

One year after the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim and stated the time allowed to sue, under HRS 554D-1005(a). Without such a report, 554D-1005(c) allows three years from the first of the trustee's removal or resignation, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust. A claim against a trustee who has died follows the claim periods in HRS 560:3-803(a).

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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.

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