Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Hawaii’s Uniform Probate Code provision, Haw. Rev. Stat. § 560:3-719, entitles a personal representative to reasonable compensation and lets them determine that compensation themselves in the first instance, paying it without pre-approval. The probate court reviews reasonableness under the companion statute, HRS §560:3-721, but only after notice to interested persons, on petition of an interested person, or on motion if the administration is supervised. No enumerated factor list appears in the statute itself.
The statute, and what it does not list
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 560:3-719 provides that a personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for the personal representative’s services. If a will provides for compensation and there is no contract with the decedent regarding compensation, the personal representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead, and may also renounce the right to all or any part of the compensation by written filing with the court. The statute sets no percentage, schedule, or factor list.
Who actually decides, and the self-determine-then-review structure
The probate court is the ultimate decider, but Hawaii’s structure, adopted with the Uniform Probate Code in 1996, lets the personal representative set their own compensation first and pay themselves without needing pre-approval. HRS §560:3-721 is the enforcement backstop: the court reviews reasonableness only after notice to interested persons, on petition of an interested person, or on motion if the administration is supervised, and it can order a refund if the compensation taken is later found excessive.
What that means in practice
Because Hawaii allows self-determined pay without pre-approval, document the basis for the fee at the time it is taken, the review under Section 560:3-721 can come later, on someone else’s petition, and the personal representative bears the risk of having to refund an excessive amount. If a will sets compensation and there is no contract with the decedent about it, renouncing that provision and seeking reasonable compensation instead remains an option before qualifying.
What the whole process costs in this state: Hawaii probate cost. Every state’s fee model side by side: probate cost by state.
Work out the number: the executor fee calculator. How the standard is applied where no schedule exists: reasonable-compensation states. Whether to take the fee at all: when the executor is also an heir, and how the fee is taxed.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; a court retains the final say on what compensation is allowed.
Related: whether Hawaii requires the executor to post a bond.