§509-1 Construed as estates in common,
when. All grants, conveyances, and devises of land, or of any interest
therein, made to two or more persons, shall be construed to create estates in
common and not in joint tenancy or by entirety, unless it manifestly appears
from the tenor of the instrument that it was intended to create an estate in
joint tenancy or by entirety; provided that this section shall not apply to
grants, conveyances, or devises to personal representatives or trustees. [L
1903, c 19; RL 1925, §3190; RL 1935, §5180; RL 1945, §12780; RL 1955, §345-1;
HRS §509-1; am L 1976, c 200, pt of §1]
Cross References
Married persons, see §§572-21, 572-25.
Case Notes
Assuming there could be estate by entirety in personalty,
nevertheless stock held by husband and wife "as joint tenants with right
of survivorship" not held by entirety. 95 F. Supp. 684, 691 (1951).
Prior to statute, conveyance to two or more construed as
tenancy in common; common law rule rejected. 5 H. 543 (1886).
Statute does not apply to will which took effect before its
enactment. 23 H. 747, 754 (1917), aff'd 255 Fed. 732 (1919).
In case of doubt, grantees take as tenants in common. 24 H.
341 (1918); 37 H. 234, 241 (1945). But if intention to create joint tenancy
manifestly appears, estate in joint tenancy created. 24 H. 341 (1918).
Two or more persons acquiring title by adverse possession
take as tenants in common in absence of agreement to the contrary. 31 H. 661
(1930).
There is a general fiduciary relationship between cotenants.
57 H. 195, 552 P.2d 1380 (1976).
An estate by the entirety is not subject to claims of
creditors of one of the spouses. 57 H. 608, 561 P.2d 1291 (1977).
Right of survivorship of a joint tenant is subject to levy.
59 H. 277, 580 P.2d 843 (1978).
Personal property not affected by section. 59 H. 474, 583
P.2d 966 (1978).
Proceeds from sale of land held by the entirety are also
property held by the entirety in absence of contrary intent. 59 H. 474, 583
P.2d 966 (1978).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
9
cases, 1971–2017 · leading case:
Lambert v. Waha, 375 P.3d 202 (Haw. 2016).
Lambert v. Waha, 375 P.3d 202 (Haw. 2016).
· cites it 6× “HRS § 509-1 specifically states that [a]ll grants, conveyances, and devises of land, or of any interest therein, made to two or more persons, shall be construed to create estates in common and not in joint tenancy or by entirety, unless it manifestly appears from the tenor of…”
Sawada v. Endo, 561 P.2d 1291 (Haw. 1977).
· cites it 8× “That the Married Women's Property Act of 1888 was not intended to abolish the tenancy by the entirety was made clear by the language of Act 19 of the Session Laws of Hawaii, 1903 (now HRS § 509-1).”
Matter of Est. of Au, 583 P.2d 966 (Haw. 1978).
· cites it 8× “4 She contends that HRS §§ 509-1, 2 (1976) [hereinafter cited without (1976)], establish a presumption in favor of the creation of a tenancy in common in any property whenever property is granted, conveyed, or devised.”
Traders Travel Int'l, Inc. v. Howser, 753 P.2d 244 (Haw. 1988).
· cites it 3× “2d 966 (1978); see Hawaii Revised Statutes (hereinafter "HRS") §§ 509-1 and 509-2 (1985). [2] *247 Here, the unambiguous signature card clearly evidences that Howser and his family set up a joint account, analogous to a joint tenancy, and not a tenancy by the entirety.”
United States v. Real Prop. Located at Incline Vill., 976 F. Supp. 1327 (D. Nev. 1997).
· cites it 3× “Haw. Rev. Stat. § 509-1 (requiring grants, conveyances and devises of land to two or more persons to be construed to create tenancies in common unless an intent to create a joint tenancy or one by the entirety “manifestly appears from the tenor of the instrument”); Peters v.”
Lee v. Masamitsu Kimura, 634 P.2d 1043 (Haw. App. 1981).
· cites it 2× “See HRS § 509-1. Even if we view the three signees as tenants-in-partnership, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, partners are deemed to share profits and losses equally.”
Ellis v. Fusao Yumen, 324 F. Supp. 1314 (D. Haw. 1971).
“§ 509-1), and nowhere discloses that the purchasers purport to hold as partners or as trustees for any partnership.”
Guray v. Tacras, 194 P.3d 1174 (Haw. App. 2008).
· cites it 4× “HRS § 509-1 (2006 Repl.) provides currently, as it did at all times during the proceedings below, as follows: § 509-1 Construed as estates in common, when.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.