← Back to search

HRS §560:3-702

Who gets to act first when multiple estate letters are issued

This section says that the first person appointed as the estate's representative has the sole right to act. If a second person is appointed by mistake, the first can take back estate property from the second. But the second person's actions before learning of the first appointment are still valid.

personal representatives

The statute, as written — Priority among different letters

A person to whom general letters are issued first has exclusive authority under the letters until the person's appointment is terminated or modified. If, through error, general letters are afterwards issued to another, the first appointed representative may recover any property of the estate in the hands of the representative subsequently appointed, but the acts of the latter done in good faith before notice of the first letters are not void for want of validity of appointment.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

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