How the Hawaii executor fee actually works
No percentage in the probate code — and a real cross-reference in the trust code that keeps it that way on purpose.
1. Reasonable compensation, no formula
HRS § 560:3-719: "A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for the personal representative's services." No percentage, no dollar table — the bare Uniform Probate Code standard.
2. A real, deliberate carve-out from trustee percentages
HRS § 607-18: Hawaii's separate trustee-compensation statute sets percentage-based compensation for trustees — but explicitly cross-references personal representative compensation back to HRS § 560:3-719 through 3-721 instead of applying that trustee percentage schedule to them. Hawaii law draws this line on purpose: a trustee's percentage-based pay and a personal representative's reasonable-compensation standard are kept structurally separate, even though both roles administer property for someone else.
3. Review and refund for self-determined amounts
§ 560:3-721: lets an interested person petition the court to review the reasonableness of compensation a personal representative determined for their own services, with excessive amounts subject to refund.
4. The will's compensation, and renunciation
§ 560:3-719: if the will sets compensation and there's no separate contract with the decedent, the personal representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and get reasonable compensation instead. A personal representative may also renounce all or part of the compensation generally, with a written renunciation filed with the court.
5. An illustrative figure, not a rule
Informally reported example: a $1,000,000 estate has been cited as yielding an executor commission around $25,000 — roughly 2.5% — but this is an illustrative example from secondary sources, not a statutory figure or a binding benchmark for what any particular court will approve.
| Component | Hawaii figure |
|---|---|
| Statutory formula for personal representatives | None — "reasonable compensation" only |
| Trustee percentage schedule (HRS § 607-18) | Exists, but does not apply to PRs |
| Informally reported illustrative example | ~2.5% on a $1M estate |