How to Create a Living Trust in Hawaii

Planning for the future is an important step in ensuring your loved ones are cared for and your assets are protected. In Hawaii, many residents are turning to living trusts as a practical way to manage their estates, avoid probate, and maintain privacy. A living trust is a legal document that allows you to place your assets, such as real estate, bank accounts, and personal property, into a trust during your lifetime, with clear instructions on how those assets should be distributed after your passing. Unlike a will, a living trust can help your beneficiaries bypass the often lengthy and costly probate process, making the transfer of assets smoother and more efficient.

If you want to plan your estate, a financial advisor could help guide you on important decisions for your family’s needs and goals.

Creating a Living Trust in Hawaii

In Hawaii, living trusts are a popular estate planning tool because they help individuals avoid the often lengthy and costly probate process. By transferring ownership of your property to a trust, you maintain control over your assets while ensuring a smoother transition for your beneficiaries. The process to create a living trust in Hawaii consists of six primary steps:

Choose the type of trust you want: If you’re single, a single trust is the natural choice. For those who are married, you can choose to create a single trust independent of your spouse, or the two of you can make a shared trust together. A joint trust can hold joint property like cars and real estate.
Decide which of your assets you’d like to place in the living trust: You can place investments, family heirlooms, physical real estate and more into a living trust. The most notable exception is retirement accounts, as they usually have predetermined beneficiaries.
Choose a trustee: Many people name themselves as a trustee. If you go this route, you must name a successor to take over after you die. This individual is responsible for distributing your assets to the proper beneficiaries when the time comes.
Create your trust document: You can do this with the help of an attorney, or you can use an online service.
Sign the document: Before your living trust is active, you’ll need to sign it in the presence of a notary public.
Place your assets into the trust: You need to fill out some paperwork to make this happen. Hiring an attorney to help with this is usually wise, as DIY estate planning can be risky.

What Is a Living Trust?

A living trust is a legal arrangement that allows a person to grant ownership of his or her assets to beneficiaries. It takes effect when you’re alive and remains in effect after your death. Each trust has a designated trustee who is responsible for dispersing the assets as the trust’s grantor wishes. You can name yourself as the trustee or give that power to someone else.

There are two basic types of living trusts. An irrevocable living trust is permanent. This means the grantor cannot remove any asset placed in the trust without first getting permission from every person named in the document. Property placed inside the trust is no longer under the grantor’s ownership. Thus, taxes are paid by the trust, not the grantor.

A revocable living trust, by contrast, offers more flexibility than an irrevocable living trust. With a revocable living trust, the grantor can alter the trust whenever he or she wants. The grantor maintains ownership of the assets placed in the trust, though, so they must pay taxes on them.

How Much Does It Cost to Create a Living Trust in Hawaii?

Forecasting the cost of creating a living trust in Hawaii is a difficult task, as it depends on many factors. If you opt for a DIY trust, your costs will vary depending on which service you use, if you use an online service at all. Total costs can range as high as a few hundred dollars, or they may be less than $200.

If you enlist the help of an attorney, you’ll have the peace of mind that an expert is on the case, but that peace of mind doesn’t come free. Attorney fees vary from firm to firm, but costs could end up exceeding $1,000.

When looking for a lawyer to work with, try to find someone with experience specifically in creating trusts. Just because a lawyer focuses on estate planning doesn’t necessarily mean they specialize in trusts, and this kind of specialization can offer major benefits.

Why Get a Living Trust in Hawaii?

The most common reason for creating a living trust is to circumvent the probate process entirely. Probate is a potentially headache-inducing legal process that confirms a decedent’s will. With a living trust, however, your estate will avoid probate altogether.

While avoiding the probate process might be a huge time saver in some states, there might not be as many issues in Hawaii. That’s because the state government has adopted the Uniform Probate Code, which makes the probate process significantly easier. So if you’d only be creating the trust to avoid probate, it may not be worth it.

There are other reasons to create a living trust, including making it easier to leave property to a minor. Through this, you can instruct the successor trustee to look after the assets in question until the child comes of age.

Who Should Get a Living Trust in Hawaii?

Anyone can benefit from creating a living trust, not just wealthy families with complex estates. That’s not to say the size and complexity of your estate shouldn’t be a factor in your decision.

In Hawaii, the Uniform Probate Code streamlines the probate process, so it might make sense to just use a will if your estate is fairly normal. Further, Hawaii offers a simplified probate process for estates worth less than $100,000. If you fall below this threshold, a living trust likely won’t be necessary for probate purposes.

Living trusts can also be more expensive and more difficult to create than a will. Additionally, there exists the potential for issues after you’ve died, as the period to contest a living trust is longer than it is for a will. If you decide to forgo a living trust, just remember you’ll still need a larger estate plan.

Living Trusts vs. Wills

You need a will regardless of whether you create a living trust. If any of your assets don’t end up in the living trust, the will dictates who should inherit them. Just as a trust has capabilities that a will does not, a will can do things that a trust cannot. These include:

Naming an executor
Providing instructions for paying taxes and debts
Selecting managers for children’s property
Establishing guardianship for children

The following table provides an overview of the capabilities of living trusts versus wills:

Living Trusts vs. Wills

Situation	Living Trusts	Wills
Names a property beneficiary	Yes	Yes
Allows revisions to be made	Depends on type	Yes
Avoids probate court	Yes	No
Requires a notary	Yes	No
Name an executor	No	Yes
Name a property beneficiary	No	Yes
Requires witnesses	No	Yes

Living Trusts and Taxes in Hawaii

There is no inheritance tax in Hawaii, meaning your beneficiaries won’t have to pay a tax once they receive the assets you’ve passed along. There is an estate tax in Hawaii, though. However, the Hawaii estate tax only applies to estates that are worth more than $5.49 million. The tax is levied only on the amount above this threshold.

There is also a federal estate tax that applies to estates that are worth at least $13.99 million in 2025 ($27.98 million for couples).

Bottom Line

Creating a living trust in Hawaii is an easy enough process to wrap your head around, but it’s also easy to get tripped up by some of the minor details. While you can certainly set one up by yourself, it might make more sense to get professional advice. If you have a valuable or complex estate, you would benefit from a living trust. The Uniform Probate Code, however, simplifies the probate process for estates without a trust. So be sure to take into account all factors before finalizing your decision.

Tips for Planning Your Estate

Whether you’re planning an estate or just choosing investments to preserve your assets, a financial professional can help. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Before you start thinking about leaving a financial legacy to your family, make sure you’ve built a secure retirement for yourself. You may start by using our retirement calculator to make sure you’re on pace to hit your retirement income goals.