Hawaii: Revocable Living Trust Creation Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-101 names chapter 554D the Uniform Trust Code. Haw. Rev.
Stat. § 554D-1104 generally applies the chapter from January 1, 2022 to trusts created
before, on, or after that date, while preserving prior acts and the stated
limits on retroactive presumptions.

This page addresses creation and execution of an ordinary adult revocable
living trust, not a specialized trust, tax or public-benefit plan, creditor
strategy, or post-death administration.

Capacity and intent

Section 554D-601 uses will capacity to create or add property to a revocable
trust. Under § 560:2-501, an individual must be at least 18 and of sound mind
to make a will. The trust terms may require a higher level of capacity for a
later amendment or revocation under § 554D-602(c).

Section 554D-402 separately requires capacity and an indicated intention to
create the trust. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-406 makes the trust void to the extent fraud,
duress, or undue influence induced its creation.

Creation method, property, and funding

Section 554D-401 permits a lifetime or death-effective transfer to another
trustee, an owner's declaration over identifiable property, exercise of a
power of appointment, or creation by a court. Under § 554D-402(d), an agent's
trust is valid only if the power of attorney specifically authorizes creation
and the settlor had trust-making capacity when executing the power.

Property includes real or personal, legal or equitable ownership interests.
The route matters: an owner declaration covers identified property already
owned by the settlor, while a transfer route requires the relevant transfer.
The cited sections state no universal nominal-dollar minimum, and a trust
schedule does not replace a deed, assignment, account change, beneficiary
designation, or delivery required for a particular asset.

Beneficiaries, purposes, and trustee roles

Section 554D-402 requires a definite beneficiary for an ordinary private
trust. The beneficiary may be ascertainable now or later, and a trustee or
other person may hold a valid power to select from an indefinite class. The
statutory charitable, animal-care, and noncharitable-purpose exceptions remain
outside this ordinary living-trust scope.

Section 554D-404 requires a lawful, possible, public-policy-compliant purpose
and terms for the beneficiaries' benefit.

The owner-declaration route expressly permits the settlor to serve as trustee.
The current § 554D-402 requires trustee duties but contains no
sole-trustee/sole-beneficiary clause and no separate bar on the settlor being a
beneficiary. That statutory omission should not be replaced with another
state's UTC wording.

A separately designated trustee accepts under § 554D-701 through the trust's
method or, if that method is absent or nonexclusive, by knowingly accepting
delivery, exercising powers or duties, or otherwise indicating acceptance.

Oral, written, witness, and notary rules

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-407 allows an oral trust and its terms to be established by clear
and convincing evidence unless law outside chapter 554D requires a trust
instrument. The cited creation provisions impose no universal settlor/trustee
signature pairing, witness, or notarization rule.

That does not erase asset-specific formality. A transfer of regular-system
real property uses the Bureau of Conveyances and needs an acknowledgment to be
recorded under § 502-41. For Land Court registered property, § 501-101 makes
registration the operative act that conveys or affects the land.

Revocability and amendment method

Under § 554D-602, a trust created under an instrument executed on or after
January 1, 2022 is revocable unless its terms expressly provide otherwise.
Substantial compliance with the trust's method works, and the method may
require higher capacity.

If the trust provides no method, Hawaii requires a written and signed method
manifesting clear and convincing evidence of the settlor's intent. The statute
does not add delivery to the trustee to that fallback. An agent needs express
authority in both the trust terms and the power of attorney.

Registration, certification, and real property

Hawaii's former Probate Code trust-administration article, including
§§ 560:7-101 to 560:7-501, is expressly repealed. Ordinary trust creation
therefore no longer uses that former registration system. Section 554D-1013
instead permits a trustee to furnish a certification of trust to a
nonbeneficiary in place of the complete instrument.

Real-property publicity remains separate. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 502-83 makes an unrecorded
regular-system conveyance void against the later good-faith purchaser, lessee,
or mortgagee for value without actual notice whose conveyance is first duly
recorded. For Land Court property, § 501-101 makes registration—not the trust
instrument alone—the operative conveyance act.

Practical distinction

Hawaii can recognize an oral trust, but that does not make oral instructions a
universal way to retitle every asset. Trust creation, trustee acceptance,
certification, regular-system recording, and Land Court registration each do
different legal work.

Statutes and sources

• Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 554D-101 and 554D-1104 — Uniform Trust Code title and
  application from January 1, 2022. Official current
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-103 — person, property, and trust-instrument
  definitions. Official current
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 554D-401 and 554D-402 — creation routes and elements,
  definite beneficiaries, and agent-created trusts. Methods
  text
  and requirements
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 554D-404, 554D-406, and 554D-407 — purpose, improper
  influence, and oral-trust proof. Official current
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-601 and Haw. Rev. Stat. § 560:2-501 —
  revocable-trust capacity and the incorporated will-capacity standard. Trust
  Code text
  and Probate Code
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-602 — revocability default and amendment or
  revocation methods. Official current
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-701 — trustee acceptance and rejection. Official
  current text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-1013 — optional certification. Official current
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 560:7-101 to 560:7-501 — former trust-administration
  and registration article repealed. Official current
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 501-101, 502-41, and 502-83 — Land Court registration,
  acknowledgment to record, and regular-system recording priority. Land Court
  text,
  acknowledgment
  text,
  and recording
  text
  (accessed 2026-07-30).