Kuleana Lands - Keeping What You Have - Getting Back What You Lost

Finally, help is on the way for getting Kuleana Lands back into their rightful owners' hands.  Thanks to the A'o Aku A'o Mai Initiative - a partnership between the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson Law School, Kanaka Maoli will be able to learn more about Hawaii Land Law and protecting their land interests.

Many Hawaiian families lost their Kuleana Lands through Quiet Title, Partition and Adverse Possession actions.  Hopefully, this new initiative will help families avoid this--and better yet, maybe even regain title to Kuleana Lands already lost through these actions.

A primer on Land Title Actions will be published this summer, to educate the community about these processes, and to empower individuals to take action by providing some of the tools necessary to effectively participate in these processes.  Community workshops will be held shortly thereafter on Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kauai and Hawaii.

The most important prerequisite for all legal actions regarding land is your GENEALOGY.  You must be able to prove direct decendency to the original Mahele Awardee.  If you don't already have your genealogy in order, I suggest you start now! 

Also, Kuleana Lands can be exempt from real property taxes (or if not completely exempt, you may be able to pay a very minimal amount).  Applications for "Kuleana Land Tax Exemption" can be found at the various counties' Tax Office Website.

I'll try to keep you updated, as more information becomes available.



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