Hawaii Quitclaim Deed
A Hawaii quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) records at the statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu, not a county office. Conveyance tax and notary apply.
Introduction
A quitclaim deed is a document that transfers whatever ownership interest you have in a piece of real estate to someone else, with no promise that your title is good or even that you own anything at all. That is the key difference from a warranty deed, which does promise clear title and lets the grantee sue if the title turns out to be flawed. A quitclaim simply passes along whatever interest you hold, so people use it for lower-risk transfers between people who already trust each other: adding or removing a spouse after a marriage or divorce, moving a home into a living trust, or clearing up a possible claim on a title. In Hawaii the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. Hawaii records deeds at a single statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu rather than at county offices, and it runs a dual system: the Regular System under HRS Section 502-83 and the Land Court (Torrens) system under HRS Section 501-101. To record, you sign before a notary, whose acknowledgment HRS Section 502-41 requires; no witnesses are needed. The conveyance tax under HRS Chapter 247 also applies. Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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A quitclaim deed transfers only the interest you actually have. It passes whatever ownership you hold in the property to the grantee and makes no promise that the title is clear, or even that you own anything. A warranty deed, by contrast, guarantees the title, which is why a quitclaim is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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Record at the statewide Bureau of Conveyances. Hawaii has no county recorders. Every deed is recorded at one central Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu (HRS Section 502-83). Recording protects the grantee against a later good-faith buyer under the state's race-notice rule.
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You must sign before a notary. To be recorded, a Hawaii quitclaim deed must be acknowledged before a notary public. HRS Section 502-41 requires that acknowledgment (the notary's confirmation that you signed) before the Bureau of Conveyances will accept the deed.
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No witnesses are required. Hawaii conditions recording only on a notarial acknowledgment (HRS Sections 502-41 to 502-45); no statute requires subscribing witnesses for a deed, so a notarized signature alone is enough.
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Pay the conveyance tax and file a certificate of conveyance. Hawaii charges a conveyance tax on deeds under HRS Chapter 247, tiered by value and by whether the buyer qualifies for a county homeowner's exemption, and HRS Section 247-6 requires a certificate of conveyance (Form P-64A, or Form P-64B if exempt) stating the full consideration before the deed is recorded.
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There is no Hawaii quit claim deed form to fill in. Hawaii prescribes no statutory deed form; HRS Section 501-101 confirms owners use ordinary forms of deeds sufficient in law. A quitclaim uses remise-and-release language and carries no warranty of title.
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Understand the dual recording system and spousal rules. Hawaii keeps a Regular System (registrar of conveyances, HRS Section 502-83) and a Land Court Torrens system (assistant registrar, HRS Section 501-101); land in both systems must be recorded in both. Hawaii is not a community-property state and dower and curtesy are abolished (HRS Section 560:2-112), so a non-owner spouse need not join. Common quitclaim uses include divorce transfers and moving a home into a living trust.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in Hawaii, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Quitclaim Deed guide walks through them.
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Hawaii Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record a Hawaii quitclaim deed you must acknowledge it before a notary public. HRS Section 502-41 requires a notarial acknowledgment before any conveyance can be recorded, so notarization is the formality that makes the deed recordable at the Bureau of Conveyances.
Hawaii does not require witnesses to sign a deed. HRS Chapter 502 conditions recording solely on a notarial acknowledgment (HRS Sections 502-41 to 502-45); no section imposes a subscribing-witness requirement, so a notarized signature alone is sufficient.
Hawaii has no county recorders. Record the signed, notarized deed at the single statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu. Under HRS Section 502-83 a deed that is not recorded is void against a later good-faith purchaser for value who records first (a race-notice rule).
Hawaii runs a dual recording system. Unregistered land is recorded in the Regular System with the registrar of conveyances (HRS Section 502-83); registered land is filed in the Land Court (Torrens) system with the assistant registrar (HRS Section 501-101), where the act of registration is what transfers title. Land in both systems must be recorded in both.
Hawaii imposes a conveyance tax on transfers of real property by deed (HRS Chapter 247). The rate is tiered by the property's value and by whether the buyer qualifies for a county homeowner's exemption, from 10 cents per $100 up to $1.25 per $100, with a $1 minimum per transaction (HRS Section 247-2). The tax is generally paid by the grantor.
HRS Section 247-6 requires a certificate of conveyance stating the actual and full consideration to be filed before the deed is accepted for recording. The Department of Taxation provides Form P-64A for taxable transfers and Form P-64B for exempt transfers; confirm the current-year form. Certain transfers, such as one between spouses under a divorce order, are exempt under HRS Section 247-3.
Hawaii does not prescribe a statutory short-form quitclaim or warranty deed. HRS Section 501-101 confirms that owners may use ordinary forms of deeds sufficient in law for the purpose intended. A quitclaim deed uses remise-and-release language and carries no warranty of title; the grantee takes only whatever interest the grantor holds.
The registrar will not record a deed unless it contains the grantee's address (HRS Section 502-34). The deed must also bear original signatures with each signer's name printed beneath, reserve the top 3.5 inches of the first page for recording information, and be on 8.5 by 11 inch pages numbered consecutively and stapled once in the upper left corner (HRS Section 502-31).
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in Hawaii real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. Unlike a warranty deed, it makes no promise that you own the property or that the title is free of other claims. It simply passes along the interest you hold, if any.
The difference is the promise about title. A warranty deed guarantees that the grantor owns the property and that the title is clear, and the grantee can sue if that turns out to be false. A Hawaii quitclaim deed makes no such promise. Hawaii prescribes no statutory deed form (HRS Section 501-101), so a quitclaim relies on its remise-and-release language to pass only whatever interest the grantor has, with no warranty of title.
Yes. To record a quitclaim deed in Hawaii you must sign it before a notary public. HRS Section 502-41 requires a notarial acknowledgment before the Bureau of Conveyances will record any conveyance. No witnesses are required; the notary acknowledgment is the operative formality, and without it the deed will not be recorded.
You record it at the single statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu; Hawaii has no county recorders. Hawaii runs a dual system: unregistered land is recorded in the Regular System with the registrar of conveyances (HRS Section 502-83), and registered land is filed in the Land Court with the assistant registrar (HRS Section 501-101). Land that sits in both systems must be recorded in both.
You pay a recording fee plus the state conveyance tax. Under HRS Section 247-2 the tax is tiered by the property's value and by whether the buyer qualifies for a county homeowner's exemption, ranging from 10 cents per $100 up to $1.25 per $100, with a $1 minimum per transaction. A certificate of conveyance (Form P-64A, or P-64B if exempt) must be filed first under HRS Section 247-6.
No. Recording your quitclaim at Hawaii's statewide Bureau of Conveyances passes only the interest you hold to the grantee; it never reaches the lender's mortgage lien. Whoever signed the promissory note stays personally liable even after the deed is filed. To come off the loan you need the lender to refinance it or sign a release, because the deed alone cannot remove you from the debt.
Yes. One spouse can quitclaim their interest to the other to carry out a divorce settlement. Hawaii is not a community-property state and does not require a non-owner spouse to join in a deed of separately titled property, because dower and curtesy are abolished (HRS Section 560:2-112). A deed between spouses executed under an order in a divorce action can be exempt from the conveyance tax under HRS Section 247-3.
No. Hawaii prescribes no statutory deed form, so a quitclaim simply omits any covenant of warranty and passes only whatever interest the grantor actually holds, if any; it clears no liens, mortgages, or other claims. Recording under Hawaii's race-notice rule (HRS Section 502-83) protects your priority against a later buyer but proves nothing about the state of title. Only a title search and title insurance give the assurance a quitclaim cannot.