a small confession...i think i'm starting to lose it...i think i'm drfiting away from the people i really need

welcome to estate and testament law 101.....it took me 2 hours to write this piece of shit..and i want to share..enjoy!

For those individuals fortunate enough to legitimately greet neighbors with an “Aloha,” Section 560:2-501-517 of Title 30 of the Hawaiian Code provides statutory guidelines for Hawaiian residents who wish to dictate the disposition of their property through the construction of a will. According to §560:2-501, the ability to construct a will is expressly limited to individuals who are above the age of eighteen and are of sound mind. It is noted that a person under guardianship as a spendthrift is not considered to be incapacitated for purposes of this section. Consequently, no indications of what “sound mind” entails are listed, nor does the section say anything involving minors who are emancipated from the care of their family.

Upon an individual of majority age and sound mind’s decision to dictate the disposition of their property through a will, §560-2:502(a) requires that a will must be in writing, signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by an individual in the testator’s conscious presence and by the testator’s direction, and signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after the individual witnessed either the signing of the will or the testator’s acknowledgment of the signature or acknowledgement of the will. For purposes of §560-2:502(a), the document may be typed or hand written; however, if the will does not comply with the requirements set forth in §560-2:502, the document, according to §560-2:502(b) will be considered valid as a holographic will—whether or not witnessed—if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting. Furthermore, in the case of holographic wills, the testator’s intent can be established by portions of the document that are not in the testator’s handwriting. In the instance that a document was not executed in compliance with §560-502, the document or writing will be treated and executed as if it were in compliance if the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document or writing to constitute the decedent’s will, a partial or complete revocation of the will, an addition or alteration to the will, or a partial or complete revival of the decedent’s formerly revoked will or of a formerly revoked portion of the will.

According to section 560-2:502, at least two witnesses must be present to make the will executable. According to §560-2:505, a witness may be any individual that is generally competent to be a witness and may act as a witness in a will. Furthermore, §560-2:505 specifies that an interest in the execution of the will by a witness does not invalidate any provision of the will, or the will itself. As stated above, §560-2:502 the witness must sign after witnessing either the signing of the will, or the testator’s acknowledgment of the signature of the will.

After the completion of a will, the testator may chose to revoke the will. Under §560:2-507, a will or any part within the will may be revoked by executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part of the previous will expressly or by inconsistency, or by performing a revocatory act on the will if performed with the intent to revoke the will or any part of the will. A revocatory act must be performed by the testator or within the conscious presence of the testator, and includes burning, tearing, obliterating, destroying, or canceling the will or any part of it. A revocation due to a change in circumstances; however, is not allowed. If the will is revoked, it may be revived if the revocation was not intended by the testator, or if revoked provisions were intended to take effect as executed.

With regard to the division of property among those individuals not listed within the will, §560-2:302 states that a child left out of the will may receive a share of the estate if the testator has no living child at the time of execution, unless the will devised all or substantially all of the estate to the surviving parent. In the event the testator has living children, the omitted child may receive a share of the estate if a portion of the testator’s estate is limited to the testator’s then living children under the will. In the event a child is omitted because the testator believes the child to be dead, the child is still entitled to a share of the estate. Consequently, a child cannot recover in the event that it appears that the omission of the child was intentional or the testator provided for the omitted child by transfer outside the will and the intent that the transfer be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator’s is reasonably inferred from the amount of the transfer or other evidence. Similarly, an omitted spouse may recover a share under the will equal to the portion allotted if the decedent died intestate; yet, the omitted spouse is not entitled to a share of the estate if the testator intentionally omitted the spouse, or provided for the spouse by a transfer outside the will, and that is proven by statements indicating such intent.