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We help our clients to arrange their affairs to avoid probate and minimize taxes at death.  We also help to arrange their affairs if they desire to a) qualify for Medicaid, b) protect the asset from a child's or grandchild's divorce, lawsuit or bankruptcy or medicaid.  What sets us apart - all planning is done by choosing or creating options that that maximize tax savings for all parties involved.  We are also committed to client education and public information - I invite everyone to listen to my live, weekly radio show on estate planning, "Backyard Estate Planning" now in its 31st year where we discuss estate planning, options, advantages, disadvantages, and the like.

Bill currently serves on the board of the North Hawaii Community Hospital and the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and is a trustee of the Anna Perry-Fiske Charitable Trust.  He has previously served on the boards of the North Hawaii Hospice and the Parker School Trust.  He also served on the advisory board for the West Hawaii Fund and as a member of the Hawaii Island Leadership Council of the Hawaii Community Foundation.Bill began his law practice with the Honolulu firm then known as Torkildson, Katz, Jossem & Loden in 1977.  In 1983, he moved to the Big Island, opening a branch of the firm in Kailua-Kona. In 1995, Bill left the Torkildson firm, acquired their Kona office and continued his practice there.  In 2000, the firm moved its main office to its present location in Waimea (Kamuela). On July 1, 2013, the firm was reorganized and his long-time associate became a partner in the present firm. Mr. Hastings has participated in numerous seminars and programs on estate planning and gift & estate tax law for the Hawaii Institute of Continuing Legal Education, the National Business Institute, Professional Education Systems, the Hawaii Society of CPAs, and the American College of Life Underwriters, as well as for several business and professional groups.  Bill has also taught Estate Planning as an adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii's Richardson School of Law.

I am an associate attorney with Hawaii Trust & Estate Counsel and work primarily out of our Hilo office.. I was born and raised in Hilo, where I graduated from Hilo High School and the University of Hawai`i–Hilo, with a degree in cell and molecular biology.  Prior to entering law school, I served as an East Hawaii Ocean Safety Officer and worked in special education at Hilo High School.  I received my law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai`i–Manoa in 2013, where I was a member of the Environmental Law Society.  While a law student, I spent one year interning at the First Circuit Court, Probate Division, for the honorable Judge Derek H.M. Chan.

Cynthia is the founding member of Kauai Estate Law, LLLC, where she now practices in partnership with Katherine A. Caswell. Cynthia is licensed to practice law in Hawaii and New York, and is a member of the Kauai Bar Association, the Probate and Estate Planning section of the Hawaii State Bar Association, and WealthCounsel. Cynthia graduated from Cornell Law School, magna cum laude, in 1992. She was a court attorney and confidential legal assistant to two highly respected New York State justices for 16 years. In these positions Cynthia gained a strong knowledge of courtroom procedure and litigation strategy and tactics, and honed her legal research and writing skills. She was sought out as an expert in these areas by many attorneys in the upstate New York area, before she relocated to Hawaii in 2008.  Cynthia received the American Jurisprudence award for outstanding performance in an Estate Planning practicum, and focused her legal studies in the areas of taxation and business law.  Since relocating to Kauai and opening Kauai Estate Law in 2008, Cynthia has limited her practice to the areas of Estate Planning, Probate, and Trust Law. By focusing on these areas of the law, Cynthia is able to stay abreast of the complex and constantly changing laws and rulings that govern the administration and taxation of trusts and estates.. Cynthia lives in Wailua Homesteads with her husband Guy, who builds and repairs musical instruments, and extended family. In her spare time, she enjoys being a mentor for Kauai's island-wide high school FIRST robotics team, the Kauaibots, and a director of the Kauai Robotics Alliance and Kauai Hospice.  She also likes to hike, run, scuba dive, sew and garden.

In Woodstock, Georgia, I represent clients in a wide array of estate planning, guardianship, and probate law matters.. A native of Rossville, Georgia, I moved to Atlanta to attend Georgia State University, where I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a minor in History. I earned my law degree from John Marshall Law School. While at John Marshall, I represented the school at the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition and held internships with both the Georgia Innocence Project and the Public Defender’s Standards Council, Appeals Division. Prior to starting Harden Law Firm, I was a partner at Walden, Goodhart, Harden & New.