HRS §490:3-306
Who can keep a check or note despite someone else's claim
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗This section says that if you take a check or other payment document, you may have to give it back if someone else has a legal claim to it, unless you are a protected buyer called a holder in due course. A holder in due course can keep the instrument free from such claims.
everyone
The statute, as written — Claims to an instrument
A copy, taken August 20, 2026. The version published by the Legislature is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
A person taking an instrument, other than a person having rights of a holder in due course, is subject to a claim of a property or possessory right in the instrument or its proceeds, including a claim to rescind a negotiation and to recover the instrument or its proceeds. A person having rights of a holder in due course takes free of the claim to the instrument.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.