---
title: "Hawaii Transfer-on-Death Deed | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/hawaii/transfer-on-death-deed/
description: "Hawaii authorizes a revocable recorded transfer-on-death deed, but probate avoidance is not a substitute for Medicaid analysis."
last_updated: 2026-10-20
author: George A. Mellendorf, CLTC, LTCP (Central States Insurance Services, Inc.)
publisher: Funding LTC Marketplace
note: Educational content; not legal, tax or financial advice. Markdown copy of the HTML page at the URL above.
---
Hawaii · Asset Protection Tool

# Hawaii Transfer-on-Death Deed

Last updated 2026-10-20

Hawaii has adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, codified as Chapter 527, through State Bill 105 CD1. Under this framework, a property owner can arrange for their Hawaii real estate to pass automatically to a named beneficiary at death, using a transfer-on-death deed — and critically, that deed remains revocable at any time, even if its own language claims otherwise.

This isn't a casual document. To be effective, the deed must contain everything a standard recordable deed would need, state explicitly that the transfer only takes effect at death, and be properly recorded — either with the Bureau of Conveyances or filed in Land Court, depending on how the property is titled — before the owner dies. That's considerably more formal than jotting a beneficiary designation in a will or leaving an informal note.

While the owner is alive, the law is explicit that this deed changes nothing about their day-to-day rights: it doesn't affect the owner's property rights, doesn't give creditors new claims, doesn't create any present interest for the beneficiary, and — importantly for Medicaid purposes — doesn't affect either the owner's or the beneficiary's eligibility for public assistance during the owner's lifetime.

## Sources and official resources

- [Hawaii Med-QUEST: Apply for Medicaid](https://medquest.hawaii.gov/content/medquest/en/members-applicants/get-started/how-to-apply.html)
- [U.S. Code: 42 U.S.C. § 1396p (liens, estate recovery, transfers of assets, Partnership disregard)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1396p)
- [CMS: 2026 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards](https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/cib04272026.pdf)

Rules and figures change. Confirm current details with the agency before you act.

[← Back to the full Hawaii guide](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/hawaii/)