Articles of Incorporation
Hawaiian law requires that articles of incorporation be filed with the Hawaii DCCA. The fee to file your corporation’s articles is $100, plus another $50 if you want expedited one-day filing. Certified copies of your articles of incorporation are $20 each.
Hawaii allows corporations to be formed for any lawful business activity; in fact, the business purpose of the new corporation does not even have to be listed in the articles.
At least one person (usually an initial director or officer) must sign the articles as incorporator. The incorporator’s primary duty is to deliver the articles of incorporation to the Hawaii DCCA.
Hawaiian state law doesn’t use the concept of par value, so you don’t have to state a par value for your shares in the articles of incorporation. The filing fee is a flat amount and is not based on your authorized shares, so you can authorize as many shares as you desire. Many incorporators authorize common shares with equal voting, dividend, and liquidation rights, and no special restrictions. If you want to authorize one or more special classes of shares, state the name of each class or series, the number of shares in each, and the rights and restrictions associated with each class or series. A Hawaii corporation is exempt from registration under Hawaii’s Uniform Securities Act if the number of subscribers is 25 or less.
It’s also allowable to integrate other optional provisions into the articles of incorporation for those corporations wishing to formalize additional criteria, such as special qualifications of shareholders, limits on the duration of the corporation’s existence, any limits on the liability of a director in specific circumstances, and the like.