Hawaii property deeds
Deed rules are state law, and Hawaii's differ from its neighbors in ways that decide whether your document records or comes back. Here is the whole picture: which deeds exist here, how they have to be signed, what the recorder wants on the page, and what it costs.
- Recording office
- Bureau of Conveyances (statewide)
- Witnesses
- Notary only
- Transfer tax
- $0.10 to $1.25 per $100
- First-page margin
- 3.5″ top
- Recording fee
- $41 per document
- E-recording
- Approved vendors
Deeds Hawaii recognizes
| Deed | What it does | Available? |
|---|---|---|
| Quitclaim deed | Transfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title. | Yes |
| General warranty deed | Transfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows. | Yes |
| Special warranty deed | Transfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it. | Yes |
| Transfer-on-death deed | Names who inherits your property, skips probate, and changes nothing while you're alive. | Yes |
| Lady Bird Deed | An enhanced life estate deed: you keep total control for life, and the property passes automatically at death. | No |
| Life estate deed | You keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you. | Yes, less common |
| Gift deed | Transfers property to someone as an outright gift, for no payment. | Yes, less common |
Hawaii does not recognize lady bird deeds, so recording one here may not do what you want.
How a deed has to be signed in Hawaii
Hawaii requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged before a notary public. No witnesses are required.
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Notarization | Required. Each signer must appear before the notary and acknowledge the signature. |
| Witnesses | None |
| Preparer statement | Customary, not required |
| Grantee address on the deed | Required |
| Prior deed reference | Required |
| Spousal joinder | Not generally required |
Hawaii document formatting rules
A safe layout for Hawaii is 8.5 × 11 inch paper with a 3.5-inch clear space at the top of the first page for the bureau of conveyances' stamp, 1-inch margins elsewhere, and no type smaller than 10 point. That is the profile Deedly formats every Hawaii document to. Writing into the recorder's stamp area is the most common formatting rejection there is.
- The top 3.5 inches of page one are reserved for the Bureau of Conveyances: the left half for Land Court and the right half for the Regular System. The next inch is reserved for the name and address the recorded document is returned to, beginning 1.5 inches from the left margin, with no line longer than 3.5 inches (HRS §§ 501-108(b), 502-31(e)).
- Page one must also show the names of the grantors, the names and addresses of the grantees, the type of document, the tax map key and the total number of pages. Pages are single-sided, numbered, and stapled once in the upper left corner, with no cover or backer (HRS § 502-31(e); HAR § 13-16-7).
- A document whose page one does not meet these rules can be recorded with the Bureau's Recordation Cover Sheet attached on top as a conforming fly sheet (HAR § 13-16-2). The cover sheet counts as a page. Deedly prints the return address at the left margin rather than 1.5 inches in, so put the cover sheet on top of a Deedly deed.
Hawaii transfer tax and recording fees
Hawaii charges Conveyance tax at $0.10 to $1.25 per $100, rising with the price and higher for a condominium or single-family home when the buyer is not eligible for a county homeowner's exemption. Paid by the grantor, by law (HRS § 247-4). A sale contract can shift the cost to the buyer. The tax is on the full consideration, including any mortgage or lien on the property (HRS § 247-2).
Common exemptions: transfers between spouses or civil union partners, reciprocal beneficiaries, or a parent and child, where only nominal consideration is paid (HRS § 247-3(4)), transfers where the whole consideration, counting any mortgage or lien on the property, is $100 or less (HRS § 247-3(5)), transfers from you to your own revocable living trust, or from that trust back to you (HRS § 247-3(14)), and transfer on death deeds (HRS § 247-3(17)).
A form has to travel with the deed
Hawaii requires Form P-64A (Conveyance Tax Certificate) when tax is due, or Form P-64B (Exemption from Conveyance Tax) with most recorded deeds, including gifts and other exempt transfers. Recorders reject packages that are missing it.
Recording fees run $41 per document. Regular System: $41 per document up to 50 pages ($106 for 51 pages or more). Land Court: $36 per document, plus $50 for the new Certificate of Title a deed needs. The fee is per document, not per page (Bureau of Conveyances fee schedule, effective February 27, 2017).
See how Hawaii's transfer tax and recording fee compare with other states.
How to hold title in Hawaii
- Sole ownership. One person owns everything.
- Tenancy in common. Separate, divisible shares with no survivorship. A deceased owner's share goes to their heirs.
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Equal shares; the survivor takes the whole property automatically.
- Tenancy by the entirety. For spouses, civil union partners, and registered reciprocal beneficiaries, with automatic survivorship and protection from the creditors of only one of them (HRS § 509-2). Deedly's entirety clause is written for spouses.
Where to record a deed in Hawaii
Deeds for property anywhere in Hawaii are recorded with the statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu. Hawaii has 5 counties, and none of them records deeds. The Bureau of Conveyances accepts e-recording of Regular System and Land Court documents through its approved vendors (Simplifile, CSC, Indecomm and ePN). Vendors charge their own fees on top of the recording fee, and some require a subscription or a set-up charge, so for a single deed recording in person or by mail is usually simpler. A P-64A or P-64B still goes with the deed where one applies.
Honolulu · Hawaii · Maui · Kauai. all Hawaii recording offices
Deedly's deed is for Regular System property, not Land Court
Hawaii keeps two land records, the Regular System and Land Court. Deedly's Hawaii deed is written for Regular System property, and Deedly does not prepare Land Court deeds. Check your current deed: Land Court property has a Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) number, its document number starts with T, and its recording label sits in the top left corner. The Assistant Registrar of the Land Court will not accept a deed unless its body cites that certificate number (HRS § 501-108(a)), and a Land Court deed must also state whether each new owner is married and, if so, the spouse's full name (HRS § 501-105(a); Rules of the Land Court 58 and 67). Deedly's deed prints neither the certificate number nor spouses' names. For Land Court property, a deed transfers title only when the Assistant Registrar registers it and issues a new Certificate of Title (HRS § 501-101). The interview asks which system your property is in, and Deedly does not sell a Hawaii document for Land Court property.
Why deeds get rejected in Hawaii
- Hawaii records every deed in a single statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu, for property on every island. There are no county recorders.
- Hawaii runs two parallel systems: the Regular System (recording) and Land Court (Torrens registration). Check your current deed. A Land Court deed shows a Transfer Certificate of Title number, its document number starts with T, and its recording label sits in the top left corner. Land Court deeds must cite that certificate number and state whether each new owner is married, and if so the spouse's full name (HRS §§ 501-105, 501-108). Deedly's Hawaii deed is written for Regular System property.
- Most deeds must travel with a conveyance tax form: Form P-64A when tax is due, or Form P-64B to claim an exemption, including for gifts. A transfer on death deed needs neither (HRS § 247-3(17), § 247-6(b)).
- The top 3.5 inches of page one must be blank, and the next inch holds only the return address. Page one must also show the tax map key and the total number of pages (HRS § 502-31(e); HAR § 13-16-7).
- The Bureau of Conveyances will not record a deed that does not cite the document number of the deed the grantor took title under (HAR § 13-16-6).
- Hawaii recognizes transfer-on-death deeds under chapter 527. For Land Court property, the beneficiaries must petition the Land Court after the owner's death before the property passes to them (HRS § 527-13(a)(1)).
From $29. Every Hawaii rule above is applied automatically, and you read the finished document before you pay.
Common questions
You sign a deed, have it notarized, and record it with the statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu, whatever island the property is on. Which deed depends on what you're doing: a quitclaim for family transfers and adding or removing a name, a warranty deed for a sale, and a transfer-on-death deed for probate avoidance.
No. Hawaii does not require an attorney to prepare or record a deed. Use one when ownership is disputed, when the owner has died and the estate has not been probated, when the estate is large enough to owe tax, or when Medicaid planning is involved.
$41 per document. Hawaii also charges conveyance tax at $0.10 to $1.25 per $100, rising with the price and higher for a condominium or single-family home when the buyer is not eligible for a county homeowner's exemption.
Yes. The statute is Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 527. It must be recorded before the owner's death to be effective.
Keep reading
- Hawaii quitclaim deedTransfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title.
- Hawaii general warranty deedTransfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows.
- Hawaii special warranty deedTransfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it.
- Hawaii transfer-on-death deedNames who inherits your property, skips probate, and changes nothing while you're alive.
- Hawaii recording officesWhere to file, with fees and contact details.
- Compare all 51 jurisdictionsWitness rules, transfer taxes, and recording fees side by side.
Deedly is not a law firm
Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.