Elder law attorneys in Hawaii work the legal issues facing aging adults and their families: Medicaid planning for long-term care, drafting and updating durable powers of attorney and healthcare directives, guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, special needs trusts, and asset protection. Many also handle probate and estate planning; elder law is the subset focused on care planning and benefits eligibility. The Hawaii healthcare proxy and financial power of attorney forms cover the two instruments.
Federal law, as Hawaii applies it, sets a 5-year lookback period for Medicaid long-term care eligibility. An uncompensated transfer in the five years before the application (a gift, a transfer to a family member, a transfer to a trust that does not qualify) can trigger a penalty period during which Medicaid does not pay for nursing home care. It is why Medicaid planning starts years before the care is needed, and why elder law exists as its own practice area.
Estate planning attorneys in Hawaii average $406Clio Compare Lawyer Rates, Hawaii: Wills and Estates rate (2025 data)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source an hour for wills and estates work. A flat-fee package runs $1,218Estimate: 3 hours at $406, Clio's Hawaii Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,436Estimate: 6 hours at $406, Clio's Hawaii Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for a simple individual will and $3,900Estimate: 10 hours at $390, Clio's Hawaii Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,850Estimate: 15 hours at $390, Clio's Hawaii Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for a basic revocable trust. An online service prices the same documents in the tens to low hundreds of dollars; the Hawaii will cost calculator sets the two side by side.
In Hawaii, estates valued at $100,000HRS § 560:3-1201Verified Sep 8, 2026View source or less skip probate with the Affidavit for Collection of Personal PropertyHRS § 560:3-1201Verified Sep 8, 2026View source. That route is a form rather than a court case, and most families handle it without an attorney. Above the line, formal probate generally benefits from counsel for the procedural work, even when nothing is contested. The Hawaii probate calculator estimates the cost by estate value.
In Hawaii, the situations where counsel is typically worth the cost are: a blended family with children from a prior relationship; a business, rental property or significant investment assets; a dependent with special needs, who needs a special-needs trust to keep benefits; an estate near or above the Hawaii estate taxHRS § 236E-6, § 236E-8Verified Sep 15, 2026View source threshold of $5,490,000HRS § 236E-6, § 236E-8Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; substantial property in more than one state. Where none of these apply, an online or self-help document is often enough.
Free Hawaii forms for planning an estate or settling one: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed, and the probate forms an executor files.
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Hawaii allows a choice for a healthcare power of attorney: 2HRS § 327E-16Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses or a notary.
Hawaii treats a power of attorney as durable by defaultHRS § 551E-3, § 551E-5, § 551E-9, § 551E-15, § 551E-16, § 551E-31, § 551E-47, § 551E-51 (L 2014, c 22); HRS § 502-84, § 501-174 (recording)Verified Sep 18, 2026View source, and it is signed with no witness or notary requirementHRS § 551E-3, § 551E-5, § 551E-9, § 551E-15, § 551E-16, § 551E-31, § 551E-47, § 551E-51 (L 2014, c 22); HRS § 502-84, § 501-174 (recording)Verified Oct 21, 2026View source.
In Hawaii, a will is signed before 2HRS § 560:2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyHRS § 560:2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source.
Free calculators and checklists for planning or settling an estate in Hawaii: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay, and inheritance taxes.
An attorney-prepared revocable trust in Hawaii runs $3,900Estimate: 10 hours at $390, Clio's Hawaii Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,850Estimate: 15 hours at $390, Clio's Hawaii Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $1,218Estimate: 3 hours at $406, Clio's Hawaii Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,436Estimate: 6 hours at $406, Clio's Hawaii Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
In Hawaii, four years at a public university cost about $90,456NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source and the cost of living is 10% above the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 17, 2026View source; the state levies an estate taxHRS § 236E-6, § 236E-8Verified Sep 15, 2026View source above $5,490,000HRS § 236E-6, § 236E-8Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
Probate on a $500,000 estate in Hawaii costs an estimated $28,206HRS § 560:3-721 (court reviews attorney compensation for reasonableness; no statutory fee schedule)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source and takes 6 months to 9 months for a simple estate, with attorney fees of typically 2.3%Modeled estimate under HRS § 560:3-721 (court reviews attorney compensation for reasonableness; no statutory fee schedule): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.6%Modeled estimate under HRS § 560:3-721 (court reviews attorney compensation for reasonableness; no statutory fee schedule): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate. Estates under $100,000HRS § 560:3-1201Verified Sep 8, 2026View source can use a small-estate procedure instead.
Probate in Hawaii takes 6 months to 9 months for a simple estate and charges attorney fees of typically 2.3%Modeled estimate under HRS § 560:3-721 (court reviews attorney compensation for reasonableness; no statutory fee schedule): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.6%Modeled estimate under HRS § 560:3-721 (court reviews attorney compensation for reasonableness; no statutory fee schedule): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate; assets held in a revocable trust skip both.
Hawaii automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorceHRS § 560:2-804Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.
11 elder law firms in Hawaii, by county and firm type.
Firm listings are for informational purposes only. SimplyTrust does not endorse or recommend any specific firm or attorney. Contact firms directly to discuss your situation and verify their current practice areas and availability.
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11 firms
Solo PracticeHonolulu, HI
Serves Oahu from Central Pacific Plaza in downtown Honolulu, with a second office at the Mary Savio Medical Plaza in Aiea/Pearl City. Handles probate and estate administration alongside wills, trusts, powers of attorney, Medicaid planning, and elder law.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder LawMedicaid Planning
FirmHonolulu, HI
Serves Oahu from downtown Honolulu. Attorneys Geoff J. Sogi and George O. White handle probates, trust and estate administration, conservatorships, guardianships, and trust and estate litigation, along with estate, long-term care, and special needs planning.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTrust Litigationand 5 more
Solo PracticeKihei, HI
Serves Maui County from Kihei. The practice lists probate and fiduciary services together with estate planning, tax planning, and income tax assistance.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Law
Solo PracticeLihue, HI
Serves Kauai from the historic Lihue Plantation building in Lihue. The office assists with administration of probate and trust assets and debts, including probate filings, trust documentation, oversight of distributions to beneficiaries, and deeds and affidavits to transfer property. The practice opened in 2011, after Dawn Murata spent eight years with a Kauai firm.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder Law
Solo PracticeAiea, HI
Serves Oahu from the Pearlridge Office Center in Aiea. George Nam handles uncontested probate, guides trustees through trust settlement after death including real property transfers to beneficiaries, and files conservatorship and guardianship proceedings; contested probate matters are referred to litigation attorneys. The office keeps Saturday morning hours.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawMedicaid Planning
Solo PracticeKahului, HI
Serves Maui from Kahului. Rhonda M. Fosbinder, of Mancini, Welch & Geiger LLP, handles estate administration with and without litigation, including probate, trust administration, and guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, and assists out-of-state heirs with inherited Hawaii property. She is licensed in Hawaii and California.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder LawConservatorshipGuardianship
Solo PracticeHonolulu, HI
Serves Oahu from Honolulu and visits clients on the Big Island and Maui, including home visits. Prepares revocable living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and health care directives, and provides Medicaid planning to preserve future eligibility; the firm states its goal of an organized trust and estate settlement for families. It reports assisting more than 2,000 Hawaii residents since 2010.
PracticesEstate PlanningElder LawMedicaid Planning
FirmWailuku, HI
Serves Maui from Wailuku. Handles probate administration and trust administration - filing the will and probate documents, inventorying and appraising assets, notifying and paying creditors, filing federal and Hawaii tax returns, and making distributions - as well as conservatorships and guardianships. Estate planning is billed on a flat-fee basis.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder Lawand 3 more
FirmHonolulu, HI
Serves all Hawaiian islands from offices in Honolulu and Hilo, with a probate department that handles cases statewide. Handles ordinary probate (informal and formal), expedited ancillary probate for estates opened in another state or country, and affidavits for collecting small estates of personal property. The firm also practices Medicaid and elder law, and its probate page publishes typical cost and timeline estimates.
PracticesEstate PlanningProbateElder LawAsset ProtectionMedicaid Planning
FirmHonolulu, HI
Serves Hawaii families from offices in Honolulu, Wailuku, and Hilo. Guides personal representatives and trustees through probate and trust administration, including asset management, tax filings, and communication with beneficiaries, and also handles estate planning and special needs planning. Co-founded by two certified public accountants turned attorneys, the firm holds free trust administration seminars on Maui and the Big Island.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawSpecial Needs Planning
FirmHonolulu, HI
Serves Oahu from the Honolulu office of a Boston-based firm at 1003 Bishop Street. Partner John K. Matsumoto, who joined from his own Honolulu practice in 2025, works in estate administration, trust services, fiduciary litigation, and counsel for caregivers, alongside estate planning. He has practiced trusts and estates law in Hawaii for more than 20 years.
PracticesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTrust LitigationElder Law