Const. Art. XVI, §12
Limits on claiming land by adverse possession
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗This section stops someone from taking your land by using it without permission, unless the land is five acres or smaller. A person can only make this kind of claim once every twenty years.
landowners
The constitution, as written — Title
A copy, taken August 21, 2026. The version published by the Legislature is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
No person shall be deprived of title to an estate or interest in real property by another person claiming actual, continuous, hostile, exclusive, open and notorious possession of such lands, except to real property of five acres or less. Such claim may be asserted in good faith by any person not more than once in twenty years. [Add Const Con 1978 and election Nov 7, 1978] Cross References General statutory provisions, see chapter 669. Law Journals and Reviews Adverse Possession and Quiet Title Actions in Hawaii--Recent Constitutional Developments. 19 HBJ 59. Case Note Section does not bar adverse possession claims to more than five acres of land where claim matured prior to November 7, 1978. 91 H. 545 (App.), 985 P.2d 1112.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.