"Intestate Succession" in Hawaii - Dying without a Will

     When a person dies without having made a will, the person is said to have died "intestate".  So, what happens to the property of a person who has died intestate?  In Hawaii, the law provides a default distribution scheme by which the estate will be distributed.  Specifically, Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 560:2-101 to 103 governs intestate succession.  It is also important not to forget that the estate of a person who died intestate will have to go through probate.  
      That being said, the fate of a decedent's assets depends on the decedent's familial situation at the time of his or her death. Did the decedent leave a surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary?  Children from another marriage?  No children?  Are his or her parents still alive?  Below is a brief summary outlining the intestacy statute, which provides for a variety of situations.  For brevity and simplicity's sake, "reciprocal beneficiary" is omitted from the examples below, but can be interchanged with "surviving spouse".
     A decedent's entire estate will go to the surviving spouse in these situations:

• Decedent was not survived by any children or his or her parents; or
• There are surviving children who are the natural descendants of both the decedent and surviving spouse.  Also, the surviving spouse cannot have any living children who were not from the decedent (i.e. surviving spouse cannot have any living children from another relationship).

     The first $200,000 and 3/4ths of any balance of the estate will go to the surviving spouse if:

• Decedent did not leave any surviving children, but at least one of the decedent's parents is alive.  The parents will take 1/4th of any balance of the estate. 
  

     The first $150,000 and 1/2 of any balance of the estate will go to the surviving spouse if:

• All of the decedent's surviving children are also the children of the surviving spouse, but the surviving spouse has children who are not the decedent's (e.g. surviving spouse has children from another relationship).  Decedent's surviving children will share any balance of the estate equally.

     The first $100,000 and 1/2 of any balance of the estate will go to the surviving spouse if:

• The decedent left one or more surviving children who are not the children of the surviving spouse (e.g. Decedent had children from another relationship).  Decedent's surviving children will share any balance of the estate equally.
  

     But what happens if the decedent was not married or is a widow/widower?  Again, it depends on the decedent's familial situation at the time of death.  Below is a summary of the priorities of takers of an estate if the decedent did not leave a surviving spouse.

1. Decedent's surviving children (e.g. children born out-of-wedlock or children from prior marriage); if none, then...
2. Decedent's surviving parents (to both equally or to all to the surviving parent); if none, then...
3. Decedent's siblings or their children; if none, then...
4. 1/2 to maternal grandparents or their descendants and 1/2 to paternal grandparents or their descendants; if there are no takers on either the maternal or paternal side, the other side will take the other half; if none then...
5. State of Hawaii.

     As you can see, in order for the decedent's property to escheat to the State of Hawaii a decedent basically has to have no living relatives (or at least none that can be located).  However, some people are not comfortable with the idea of their assets being distributed to distant, unknown relatives and would rather have, for example, a charitable organization benefit from their estate.  If you do not agree with this default distribution scheme, but do not have a Will or Trust, it is imperative that you visit an attorney as soon as possible to have a testamentary instrument drafted so that your wishes will preempt the Hawaii intestate statute.