Analysis of Queen Liliuokalani’s estate

The following is the introduction to a detailed article by Samuel P. King, Walter M. Heen and Randall W. Roth entitled The Queen’s Estate, Star-Bulletin, May 17, 2009 & The Queen’s Estate (Part 2), Star-Bulletin, May 18, 2009:

Much conflict and heartache surrounded Queen Liliuokalani’s personal estate planning in the early 20th century.

It included family entanglements and a decade-long litigation brought by Prince Kuhio, then Hawaii’s delegate in Congress, in which he argued that Liliuokalani lacked capacity to write a will or establish a trust.

At stake were efforts to get compensation from the U.S. government for the crown lands; bequeaths of historical Hawaiian heirlooms and sites like Washington Place; and funds in a namesake trust, which today, totals nearly $700 million.

Not counting her claim to crown lands, Liliuokalani’s net assets upon her 1917 death totaled $200,000 — about $5 million today.

This drama is culled from legal documents, books, news accounts, and archived notes and diary entries. A footnoted version appears in the May issue of the Hawaii Bar Journal. It was written by co-authors of the landmark “Broken Trust” essay that launched reforms at Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate: Senior U.S. District Judge Sam King; Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Walter Heen, and UH law professor Randall Roth.