Hawaii Warranty Deed

A warranty deed guarantees clear title and defends the buyer against claims. Hawaii codifies no statutory deed form and no statutory warrant-and-defend words (HRS Section 501-101), so a Hawaii general warranty deed carries only the protection its express covenants of title (seisin, right to convey, against encumbrances, quiet enjoyment, and general warranty) actually state. Draft those covenants into the deed to get full protection.

Hawaii prescribes no statutory short-form deed. Owners use ordinary common-law forms of deeds now in use and sufficient in law (HRS Section 501-101). Hawaii does not use a grant deed the way California does; its common instruments are the warranty deed and the quitclaim deed. Because the statute supplies no covenant words, what the deed says controls the protection it gives.

Record the signed, notarized deed at the single statewide Bureau of Conveyances in Honolulu, not a county recorder (HRS Section 502-83). Hawaii runs a dual system: the Regular System under the registrar of conveyances and the Land Court (Torrens) system under the assistant registrar (HRS Section 501-101). Hawaii follows a race-notice rule, so a conveyance recorded first generally prevails; record promptly.

Before recording, the grantor's signature must be acknowledged before a notary (HRS Section 502-41). Hawaii does not require subscribing witnesses for a deed, so a proper notarial acknowledgment is the recording path. The notary certification must also state the date, document title, page count, and circuit for the Bureau of Conveyances to accept the instrument.

Hawaii charges a conveyance tax on the transfer, tiered by property value and by whether the buyer qualifies for a county homeowner's exemption, with a minimum of 1 dollar per transaction (HRS Chapter 247, Sections 247-1 and 247-2). A certificate of conveyance (Form P-64A) stating the full consideration must be filed before the deed is accepted for recording (HRS Section 247-6). Re-confirm the current form on tax.hawaii.gov.

Identify the grantor and grantee, state the consideration, include the Tax Map Key (TMK), and give the full legal description of the property (not just the street address). The registrar will not record a deed unless it contains or has endorsed on it the address of the grantee (HRS Section 502-34). Errors in the legal description or vesting are a common and costly source of later title problems, so confirm them against the current deed.

Hawaii is not a community property state, and dower and curtesy are abolished (HRS Section 560:2-112), so a non-owner spouse generally does not have to join in a deed of one spouse's separately titled land. If the couple holds title together, both owners sign. A surviving spouse can have an elective-share right at death, so confirm how title is held before signing to avoid a defective transfer.

Choose the deed to match the protection intended. A general warranty deed warrants title against all claims, including those predating the grantor, through its express covenants. A special or limited warranty deed narrows the promise to claims arising during the grantor's own ownership. A quitclaim deed gives no covenants at all. Because Hawaii supplies no covenant words by statute, the deed's own language decides which of these you get.