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HRS §551E-33

What your agent can do under a power of attorney

This section lists what your agent can do for you if your power of attorney covers certain topics. It allows your agent to handle money, contracts, legal claims, government matters, and communications. The agent's powers depend on what your power of attorney says.

everyone

The statute, as written — ‑33] Construction of authority generally

Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, by executing a power of attorney that incorporates by reference a subject described in sections 551E-34 through 551E-47 or that grants to an agent authority to do all acts that a principal could do pursuant to section 551E-31(c), a principal authorizes the agent, with respect to that subject, to: (1) Demand, receive, and obtain by litigation or otherwise, money or another thing of value to which the principal is, may become, or claims to be entitled, and conserve, invest, disburse, or use anything so received or obtained for the purposes intended; (2) Contract in any manner with any person, on terms agreeable to the agent, to accomplish a purpose of a transaction and perform, rescind, cancel, terminate, reform, restate, release, or modify the contract or another contract made by or on behalf of the principal; (3) Execute, acknowledge, seal, deliver, file, or record any instrument or communication the agent considers desirable to accomplish a purpose of a transaction, including creating at any time a schedule listing some or all of the principal's property and attaching it to the power of attorney; (4) Initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to a claim existing in favor of or against the principal or intervene in litigation relating to the claim; (5) Seek on the principal's behalf the assistance of a court or other governmental agency to carry out an act authorized in the power of attorney; (6) Engage, compensate, and discharge an attorney, accountant, discretionary investment manager, expert witness, or other advisor; (7) Prepare, execute, and file a record, report, or other document to safeguard or promote the principal's interest under a statute or regulation; (8) Communicate with any representative or employee of a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, on behalf of the principal; (9) Access communications intended for, and communicate on behalf of the principal, whether by mail, electronic transmission, telephone, or other means; and (10) Do any lawful act with respect to the subject and all property related to the subject.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

Sections this one refers to

§551E-31 Special powers an agent needs explicit permission to use

§551E-34 What an agent can do with real property under a power of attorney

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.