Probate court in Hawaii is the official way that an estate gets settled. When an unexpected death occurs and there is no Will, a surviving spouse or an adult child, is appointed by the court to serve as the Personal Representative of the estate. Once appointed by the probate court this person has the legal authority to administer, manage, sell and/or distribute the assets to the heirs or beneficiaries. This doesn’t always work out the way the deceased intended and often causes distress in the ohana.
Probate can prevent fraud after someone’s death. Probate essentially freezes the deceased’s estate. When there is no family trust, a probate court will make the following determinations;
- Is there a valid Will?
- Have all the relevant family and non-family members been notified?
- Has all the property in the estate been identified and appraised?
- Have all creditors been paid?
- Have all taxes been paid?
Once all of that’s been done, the probate estate is closed.
A family trust keeps your children out of probate court.
You decide who will take care of your children’s assets including;
A. Life Insurance
B. Accidental Death Benefits
C. Insurance settlements from a wrongful death case.
How does it work?
You create a family trust as a grantor. You are the initial trustee and you choose the successor trustee to take care of the assets for your children. Your children are the beneficiaries. You can choose the age that your children will take the assets from the trust. For example, 25 years old.
Life Happens
You can change your family trust anytime to adjust to your needs and family life.
We want to help you and your ohana avoid probate court. We handle all the details of family trust planning and execution. We want to help you to set up your estate so your assets are distributed without the need for probate court.