Power of attorney in Hawaii: form, signing and powers

The form, the signing rules, durable or not, and what an agent can do in Hawaii, from Hawaii law.

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Short answer

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Official form
State of Hawaii Statutory Form Power of Attorney, with optional Agent's Certification
How to sign
Signed by you; the law requires no notary or witnesses
Durable unless it says otherwise?
Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Yes

Words used in Hawaii

In Hawaii you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and an agent for health care in a power of attorney for health care, which is part of an advance health-care directive. Your treatment wishes are 'individual instructions', which can be oral or written. If an adult cannot meet essential needs and less restrictive means will not work, a court can appoint a guardian; a conservator manages property.

An agent (also called an attorney-in-fact) is the person you choose to act for you. You are the principal.

Money and property
Power of attorney; State of Hawaii Statutory Form Power of Attorney
The person you choose
Agent (the law also covers an 'attorney-in-fact')
Health care
Advance health-care directive (an individual instruction and/or a power of attorney for health care)
Treatment wishes
Individual instruction (part of the advance health-care directive)
Court-appointed decision-maker
Guardian (limited or unlimited) for an incapacitated person; conservator for a protected person's estate; emergency guardian

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

How to revoke a power of attorney in Hawaii

Official forms in Hawaii

Forms published by the state or its courts. You open them on the official site.

Financial power of attorney

Health care directive

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.

Free help in Hawaii

Report abuse or exploitation

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

Questions about powers of attorney in Hawaii

What is a power of attorney called in Hawaii?

Power of attorney; State of Hawaii Statutory Form Power of Attorney. In Hawaii you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and an agent for health care in a power of attorney for health care, which is part of an advance health-care directive. Your treatment wishes are 'individual instructions', which can be oral or written. If an adult cannot meet essential needs and less restrictive means will not work, a court can appoint a guardian; a conservator manages property.

Does a power of attorney have to be notarized in Hawaii?

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.

Is there an official power of attorney form in Hawaii?

State of Hawaii Statutory Form Power of Attorney, with optional Agent's Certification. You do not have to use it.

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