Is Hawaii a Community Property State? (2026)

Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: No. Hawaii is a common law state. At divorce, HRS section 580-47 lets the court divide the estate of the parties as is “just and equitable”, and at death the surviving spouse has an elective share of fifty per cent of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate. The IRS lists nine community property states.

Hawaii community property at a glance

What the Hawaii statutes say

Hawaii is a common law state even though its divorce statute reaches every kind of property. Section 580-47 lets the court divide the estate of the parties “whether community, joint, or separate”, so the label community does not decide the split.

At divorce in Hawaii

The standard is orders that “any further orders that appear just and equitable” after the court weighs the factors the section lists. The text read sets no fixed 50/50 rule.

At a spouse’s death in Hawaii

HRS 560:2-202 gives a surviving spouse a “right of election” in an amount “equal to fifty per cent of the value of the marital-property portion” of the augmented estate. The section also adds a supplemental amount if what the survivor receives is “less than $90,000”.

What it does to basis when the first spouse dies

Because Hawaii is not on the IRS’s list of community property states, a couple’s basis at the first death depends on title. IRS Publication 551 says to “Include one-half of the value of a qualified joint interest” in the decedent’s gross estate, and the survivor’s basis is the cost of the survivor’s own half plus the basis in the half inherited. Property in the decedent’s name alone is different: 26 U.S.C. 1014(a) gives the heir a basis equal to the property’s fair market value at the date of the decedent’s death.

Computed illustration, not tax advice: suppose a Hawaii couple paid $100,000 for shares held as a qualified joint interest, and the shares are worth $400,000 when one spouse dies. The survivor’s basis is the total of two halves: $200,000 for the half that steps up plus $50,000 as the cost of the survivor’s own half, which makes $250,000. A sale at $400,000 would then show a gain of $150,000. In a community property state the same facts would give a basis of the whole $400,000. CMG’s common law step-up page goes through the difference.

What the documents do not say

• The fifty per cent applies to the marital-property portion of the augmented estate. How that portion is computed is set in other sections of the part, which were not read, so this page does not state it.

Common mistakes

• Reading fifty per cent as half of the whole estate; it applies to the marital-property portion of the augmented estate.
• Assuming the answer in this state settles it for a couple who move; the rules depend on the state where the spouses are domiciled and, for property in a trust, on the trust.

Related: why only half steps up in a common law state, Hawaii retirement taxes, and Hawaii probate cost.

Sources

• HRS section 580-47 Support orders; division of property (Hawaii Revised Statutes): https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0580/HRS_0580-0047.htm
• HRS section 560:2-202 Elective share (Hawaii Revised Statutes): https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-0002-0202.htm
• IRS Publication 551, Basis of Assets (December 2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p551.pdf
• 26 U.S.C. 1014, Basis of property acquired from a decedent (United States Code, 2024 Edition): https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/26/1014?link-type=html

Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 8, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a tax professional or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.