§560:3-705 - Duty of personal representative; information to heirs and devisees.
§560:3-705 Duty of personal representative; information to heirs and devisees. Not later than thirty days after the appointment every personal representative, except any special administrator, shall give information of the personal representative's appointment to the heirs and devisees, including, if there has been no formal testacy proceeding and if the personal representative was appointed on the assumption that the decedent died intestate, the devisees in any will mentioned in the application for appointment of a personal representative. The information shall be delivered or sent by ordinary mail to each of the heirs and devisees whose address is reasonably available to the personal representative. The duty does not extend to require information to persons who have been adjudicated in a prior formal testacy proceeding to have no interest in the estate. The information shall include the name and address of the personal representative, indicate that it is being sent to persons who have or may have some interest in the estate being administered, indicate whether bond has been filed, and describe the court where papers relating to the estate are on file. The information shall state that the estate is being administered by the personal representative under the Hawaii probate code without supervision by the court but that recipients are entitled to information regarding the administration from the personal representative and can petition the court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of administration. The personal representative's failure to give this information is a breach of duty to the persons concerned but does not affect the validity of the personal representative's appointment, powers, or other duties. A personal representative may inform other persons of appointment by delivery or ordinary first class mail. [L 1996, c 288, pt of §1]