Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Hawaii

Financial power of attorney in Hawaii

Law and official form

Law

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Yes

Official form

State of Hawaii Statutory Form Power of Attorney (HRS 551E-51), with optional Agent's Certification (HRS 551E-52)Published by Hawaii State Legislature

You do not have to use it.

You do not have to use this form. It states that it does not authorize health care decisions.

Law: HRS §§ 551E-1 to 551E-63; HRS §§ 551E-51, 551E-52

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign the power of attorney. Hawaii's Act does not require witnesses or a notary for it to be valid, but a signature acknowledged before a notary is presumed genuine, and the rules requiring third parties to accept a power of attorney apply only to an acknowledged (notarized) one.

Who signs

Signed by you, or in your conscious presence by another person you direct to sign your name.

Notary

Not required

Witnesses

None required

Agent's acknowledgment

No signed acceptance is required. An agent accepts by acting as agent or by other conduct showing acceptance.

Law: HRS 551E-9

Electronic signing

A photocopy or electronically sent copy of a power of attorney has the same effect as the original. The Act's relationship to the federal E-SIGN Act is set in HRS 551E-62.

Law: HRS 551E-3(e)

Law: HRS §§ 551E-3(b), 551E-15, 551E-16

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney created under the Act is durable unless it expressly says it ends when you become incapacitated.

Law: HRS 551E-3(a)

Durable unless it says otherwise?

Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.

Starting later (springing)

A power of attorney takes effect when signed unless it says it starts at a future date or event. You can name one or more people to decide in writing that the event has happened. If it starts on your incapacity and no one you named can decide, a physician or licensed psychologist can determine it in writing (or an attorney, judge or government official in other cases).

Law: HRS 551E-5

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Create, amend, revoke or end a living trust
• Make a gift
• Create or change rights of survivorship
• Create or change a beneficiary designation
• Delegate authority under the power of attorney
• Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a retirement survivor benefit
• Exercise fiduciary powers you have authority to delegate

No power of attorney can

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an agent who is not your ancestor, spouse or descendant cannot use it to give themselves (or someone they must support) an interest in your property. The Act does not cover health care decisions.

Law: HRS 551E-31(b); HRS 551E-2

Law: HRS § 551E-31(a)

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act in line with your reasonable expectations as far as the agent knows them, and otherwise in your best interest
• Act in good faith and only within the authority you gave
• Act loyally for your benefit and avoid conflicts of interest
• Act with the care, competence and diligence agents ordinarily use
• Keep a record of all receipts, payments and transactions
• Cooperate with your health care decision-maker
• Try to preserve your estate plan, if known and in your best interest

Agent pay

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, the agent is entitled to repayment of reasonable expenses and to reasonable compensation.

Law: HRS 551E-8

Asking a court to review an agent

You, your agent, a guardian or conservator, your health care decision-maker, your spouse, parent or descendant, a presumptive heir, a beneficiary, a protective agency, your caregiver or another interested person, and a person asked to accept the power can ask a court to interpret it or review the agent's conduct. The court must dismiss the petition at your request unless it finds you lack capacity to revoke.

Law: HRS 551E-12

Law: HRS § 551E-10

When it ends and how to revoke it

It ends when

• You die
• You become incapacitated, if the power of attorney is not durable
• You revoke the power of attorney
• The power of attorney says it ends
• Its purpose is accomplished
• You revoke the agent's authority, or the agent dies, becomes incapacitated or resigns, and no other agent is named
• For a spouse-agent, when an action for divorce, annulment or legal separation is filed, unless the document says otherwise

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Hawaii (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can revoke your power of attorney or an agent's authority. Hawaii's Uniform Power of Attorney Act does not set a required form or method for revoking. Signing a new power of attorney does not revoke an old one unless the new one says so.

Law: HRS 551E-6

Telling others

Revocation does not affect an agent or other person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of it; their acts still bind you.

Law: HRS 551E-6(d)

Law: HRS § 551E-6

Banks, other states and real estate

Banks and other businesses

A person asked to accept an acknowledged (notarized) power of attorney must accept it, or ask for an agent's certification, an English translation or a lawyer's opinion, within 7 business days, and then accept within 5 business days after receiving it. It may not demand a different form. Exceptions include not otherwise dealing with you, a conflict with federal law, a good-faith belief the power is invalid, and a report of suspected abuse to the Department of Human Services adult protective and community services branch. Wrongful refusal can lead to a court order and liability for attorney's fees and costs.

Law: HRS 551E-15, 551E-16

Signed in another state

A power of attorney signed outside Hawaii is valid if its signing met the law of the state named in it (or, if none, where it was signed), or the federal military power of attorney rules.

Law: HRS 551E-3(d), (f)

Health care directive in Hawaii

The document and its form

Document

Advance health-care directive (individual instruction and/or power of attorney for health care)

Official form

Advance Health-Care Directive - optional form (HRS 327E-16)Published by Hawaii State LegislatureVersion: Statutory optional form, HRS 327E-16 (HRS current through the January 2026 update)

You do not have to use it.

Living will

Individual instruction

Part of the directive.

An individual instruction is your direction about health-care decisions. It can be oral or written, can take effect only if a condition arises, and can be included in a power of attorney for health care or in the optional form.

Law: HRS § 327E-16; HRS §§ 327E-2, 327E-3(a)

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign and date the power of attorney for health care, then either have two qualified adult witnesses sign it or acknowledge it before a notary public in Hawaii. Individual instructions alone can be oral or written.

Who signs

A power of attorney for health care must be in writing, dated and signed by you.

Notary

A notary or witnesses (your choice)

Witnesses

2 (instead of a notary)

Who cannot witness

Two witnesses who each saw you sign or saw you acknowledge your signature. A witness cannot be a health-care provider, an employee of a health-care provider or facility, or your agent. At least one witness must be neither related to you by blood, marriage or adoption nor entitled to any part of your estate under your will or by law. Instead of witnesses, you can acknowledge it before a notary public in Hawaii.

Nursing facilities and special settings

Unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, your agent cannot be an owner, operator or employee of the health-care institution where you are receiving care.

Law: HRS § 327E-3(a)-(d)

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

Unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, your agent cannot be an owner, operator or employee of the health-care institution where you are receiving care.

Law: HRS 327E-3(b)

When the agent starts

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, the agent's authority starts only when your primary physician determines you lack capacity, and stops when the physician determines you have recovered capacity.

Law: HRS 327E-3(e), (f)

Decisions an agent cannot make

The agent must follow your individual instructions and other known wishes, otherwise your best interest considering your personal values. Unless a court orders otherwise, a court-appointed guardian's health-care decision takes precedence over the agent's.

Law: HRS 327E-3(g); HRS 327E-6(b)

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You can revoke the designation of an agent only by a signed writing or by personally telling your supervising health-care provider. A decree of annulment, divorce, dissolution of marriage or legal separation revokes the designation of a spouse as agent, unless the decree or the power of attorney for health care says otherwise.

Law: HRS 327E-4(a); HRS 327E-4(d)

Revoking your instructions

You can revoke all or part of the rest of an advance health-care directive at any time and in any manner that communicates your intent.

Law: HRS 327E-4(b)

Telling others

A health-care provider, agent, guardian or surrogate who learns of a revocation must promptly tell your supervising health-care provider and any institution where you are receiving care.

Law: HRS 327E-4(c)

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Hawaii (Divorce Law Map)

Conflicting documents

A later advance health-care directive revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict.

Law: HRS 327E-4(e)

Law: HRS § 327E-4

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

If your primary physician finds you lack capacity and you have no available agent or guardian, the physician must try to locate interested persons, who must try to agree on one surrogate: the person closest to you and most likely to know your current wishes. There is no ranked order. If they cannot agree, any of them may start a guardianship case. A surrogate you did not designate may withhold tube feeding or fluids only if two physicians certify the conditions in the law, and may not base life-sustaining decisions on a long-term disability or economic status.

• A surrogate you designated by personally telling your supervising health-care provider
• Otherwise, interested persons choose one surrogate by consensus: your spouse (unless legally separated or estranged), reciprocal beneficiary, any adult child, either parent, an adult sibling or adult grandchild, or any adult who has shown special care and concern and knows your values

Law: HRS §§ 327E-2, 327E-5

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

An advance health-care directive is valid if it complies with Hawaii's chapter or with the law of the state where it was signed.

Law: HRS 327E-3(j)

POLST (medical orders)

Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST), form adopted by the Department of Health

Mental health directive

You can make a written advance mental health care directive, alone or combined with an advance health-care directive, and name an agent for mental health decisions. It must be written, dated and signed, and either signed by two competent adult witnesses or acknowledged before a notary in Hawaii. Witnesses cannot be health care providers or their employees or relatives, owners, operators or employees of a facility where you are a patient or resident, your relatives, or your agent.

Law: HRS 327G-3

Law: HRS Chapter 327K

Guardianship and conservatorship in Hawaii

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

Guardian (limited or unlimited) of an incapacitated person; emergency guardian; temporary substitute guardian; conservator (limited or unlimited) of a protected person's estate

When a court may appoint one

An 'incapacitated person' cannot receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions to the extent they cannot meet essential requirements for physical health, safety or self-care, even with appropriate and reasonably available technological help. The court may appoint a guardian only if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is incapacitated and their needs cannot be met by less restrictive means, and should grant only the powers needed. A conservator may be appointed if, by clear and convincing evidence, the person cannot manage property and business affairs effectively.

Law: HRS 560:5-102, 560:5-311; HRS 560:5-401

Kinds

• Unlimited guardian
• Limited guardian
• Emergency guardian (up to 90 days)
• Temporary substitute guardian
• Unlimited or limited conservator, or another protective order

Law: HRS §§ 560:5-102, 560:5-106, 560:5-304, 560:5-310, 560:5-311, 560:5-312, 560:5-401

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

The individual or a person interested in the individual's welfare.

Law: HRS 560:5-304(a)

Court

Adult guardianship: family court or circuit court (concurrent jurisdiction). Conservatorship: circuit court (exclusive).

Law: HRS 560:5-106

Choosing your own

You can nominate a guardian or conservator of your estate or person in a power of attorney; the court must follow your most recent nomination except for good cause or disqualification. You can also nominate a guardian in a written advance health-care directive or mental health care directive. Your health care agent has priority for appointment as guardian.

Law: HRS 551E-4(a); HRS 327E-3(i); HRS 327G-3(c); HRS 560:5-310

Effect on a power of attorney

If a guardian of your estate or other property fiduciary is appointed, your agent is accountable to them as well as to you, and the power of attorney continues unless the court limits, suspends or ends it. A guardian may not revoke your advance health-care directive without express court authority.

Law: HRS 551E-4(b); HRS 327E-6(a)

Other options and where to report abuse

Report abuse or exploitation

Hawaii Department of Human Services - Adult Protective and Community Services Branch (Adult Protective Services) · (808) 832-5115

Call or text the Eldercare Locator to find your local adult protective services: 1-800-677-1116 · eldercare.acl.gov

Good to know in Hawaii

• A Hawaii health care power of attorney needs two qualified witnesses or a Hawaii notary; at least one witness must not be a relative or heir.

  Law: HRS 327E-3

• To revoke your choice of health care agent you must sign a writing or personally tell your supervising health-care provider.

  Law: HRS 327E-4(a)

• If you have no agent, family and close friends choose one surrogate by consensus; there is no ranked list.

  Law: HRS 327E-5

• A financial power of attorney does not need a notary to be valid, but banks' duty to accept applies only to a notarized one.

  Law: HRS 551E-3, 551E-16

Changes in 2024–2026

No change to the power of attorney, health care directive or guardianship rules described here in 2024-2026. Act 208 (2025) set up a guardianship- and conservatorship-related court resources pilot program. Bills to adopt the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act (2023) (SB1323 in 2025-2026, SB3077 in 2026) did not pass.

Questions about powers of attorney in Hawaii