Hawaii Transfer on Death Revocation

A Hawaii transfer on death deed stays revocable for the owner's entire life, but the only way to undo one is another recorded instrument. Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 527-11 provides that a recorded or filed deed may not be revoked by any act on the deed itself; tearing it up changes nothing of record. This form prepares the instrument of revocation that Section 527-11(a)(2) names: a recorded instrument that expressly revokes a transfer on death deed, also called a TOD deed or beneficiary deed, as to the interest of each owner who signs it.

Acknowledged after the deed, recorded before death

Section 527-11(a) attaches two conditions to every revocation, and the form carries both in capital letters above the signature blocks. The revocation is acknowledged by the transferor after the acknowledgment of the deed being revoked, which is why the form identifies the earlier deed by the date in its notary certificate, and it is recorded in the Bureau of Conveyances, or filed in the Office of the Assistant Registrar of the Land Court for registered land, before the transferor's death. A revocation still unrecorded when the owner dies revokes nothing, and the beneficiary named in the recorded deed takes under Section 527-13.

What the instrument revokes, and what it leaves alone

The instrument removes the beneficiary designation and does nothing else. It conveys no interest and does not change how the owner holds title; after it is recorded, the property passes at death under a will, by intestacy, or under whatever other arrangement governs it. Section 527-11(a) also recognizes a later transfer on death deed that revokes an earlier one by inconsistency and an inter vivos deed that expressly revokes it, each a separate instrument recorded on its own and not included in this package.

One owner or two, each signing in their own right

The form recites one or two natural persons who executed the transfer on death deed as transferors. Section 1 is a free-form block carrying one name or two, written as they appear on the recorded deed with a marital status recital in the style of Hawaii conveyancing practice; the form preprints nothing about marital status or how title is held. Section 5 carries an OWNER signature block and a SECOND OWNER block, each with its own acknowledgment certificate, so two owners may acknowledge on different dates or before different notaries. A sole owner revoking a deed made alone, two co-owners who made one deed and now both revoke it, and one of two transferors revoking only that transferor's own interest under Section 527-11(b)(1) each present a pattern the form accommodates. It is not set up for a transferor signing through an attorney in fact, a trustee, or an entity, or for three or more transferors on one instrument.

The joint owner rule

Section 527-11(b)(2) provides that a deed executed by joint owners is revoked only if it is revoked by all living joint owners. Section 527-2 defines a joint owner as one who owns with a right of survivorship, including a joint tenant and a tenant by the entirety and excluding a tenant in common, so the rule reaches tenants by the entirety (spouses, civil union partners, and reciprocal beneficiaries) as well as joint tenants. Both living joint owners sign; a surviving joint owner who is the last living transferor signs alone.

Built for the Bureau of Conveyances

Hawaii records centrally, and the form follows the Bureau's intake standards under Section 502-31 and Hawaii Administrative Rules Section 13-16-4: the top 3.5 inches of the first page are left for the registrars of both systems, the return address sits in the strip below, and the first page carries the owners' names and address, the type of document, and the tax map key number. Section 3 provides a Bureau document number line and a Land Court document number line, so the revocation identifies the earlier deed in whichever system it was recorded or filed, and each acknowledgment certificate opens with the document description, date, and page count that Hawaii Administrative Rules Section 5-11-8 requires near every notary certificate.

The package contains the fillable revocation form, a completed example filled in for a realistic Oahu fact pattern with two owners revoking one recorded deed, and a guide that walks through each section, the acknowledgment certificate, and recording in either system. The description and the guide describe the form and the governing Hawaii statutes in general terms; they are not legal advice.