In re: Revocable Living Trust of Gonsalves

• Court: Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
• Decided: March 31, 2026
• Docket: CAAP-24-0000003
• Status: Published

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 31-MAR-2026 08:08 AM Dkt. 86 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI

IN THE MATTER OF THE REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST OF HENRY L. GONSALVES, DATED FEBRUARY 25, 2015

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT (TRUST NO. 1CTR-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER (By: Leonard, Presiding Judge, McCullen and Guidry, JJ.)

Self-represented Petitioner-Appellant Celeste M.

Gonsalves appeals from the Probate Court of the First Circuit's

January 31, 2024 Judgment denying her petition to amend the

Henry L. Gonsalves Revocable Trust, dated February 25, 2015 (the

Trust). 1

On appeal, Gonsalves argues that the probate court

(1) erred by not entering an order to retain the case under

Hawaiʻi Probate Rules (HPR) Rule 20 prior to denying her petition

1 The Honorable R. Mark Browning presided until December 31, 2023. The Honorable Jeannette H. Castagnetti presided after January 1, 2024. NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

and (2) abused its discretion by granting the motion for

attorneys' fees.

Upon careful review of the record and the briefs

submitted by the parties, and having given due consideration to

the issues raised and the arguments advanced, we resolve this

appeal as discussed below and vacate and remand.

Henry L. Gonsalves, Gonsalves's father, transferred

all his assets into a living revocable self-settled trust,

naming various successor trustees. During his lifetime, he

amended the Trust, first adding and later removing Gonsalves as

successor trustee. The second amendment of the Trust occurred

after he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Following her father's death, Gonsalves petitioned the

probate court to remove the current trustees and be reappointed.

Respondent-Appellee Keely K. Gonsalves, the named successor

trustee following the second amendment of the Trust, objected

and moved for attorneys' fees and costs. Following a hearing on

the petition, the probate court entered a written order

(1) denying Gonsalves's petition with prejudice, (2) retaining

the case pursuant to HPR Rules 19 and 20, and (3) awarding

attorneys' fees to be paid from the Trust assets. Gonsalves

timely appealed.

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(1) Gonsalves argues the probate court committed

reversible error by not ordering the case retained under HPR

Rule 20(a) prior to denying her petition to amend the Trust.

HPR Rule 20(a) provides that the probate court may, by

written order, "retain a contested matter on the regular probate

calendar or may assign the contested matter to the civil trials

calendar of the circuit court." "A contested matter is any one

in which an objection has been filed." HPR Rule 19.

It is undisputed that Gonsalves's petition was a

"contested matter" within the meaning of HPR Rule 19 and that

entry of a written order retaining or reassigning the case was

required under HPR Rule 20(a).

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court has interpreted HPR

Rule 20(a) as requiring the probate court to exercise its

discretion to retain or reassign contested matters through a

written order. In re Elaine Emma Short Revocable Living Tr.

Agreement Dated July 17, 1984 (Short Trust II), 147 Hawaiʻi 456,

468, 465 P.3d 903, 915 (2020).

This court has explained that the probate court

commits structural error when it does not enter its HPR

Rule 20(a) order retaining the case before holding a hearing on

the contested matter or deciding the petition. In re Elaine

Emma Short Revocable Living Tr. Agreement, Dated July 17, 1984

(Short Trust III), 155 Hawaiʻi 179, 557 P.3d 908, No. CAAP-21-

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0000311, 2024 WL 4564571, at *2 (App. Oct. 24, 2024) (SDO)

(vacating and remanding contested matter where HPR Rule 20(a)

order retaining case was entered after hearing), vacated in part

on other grounds, 156 Hawaiʻi 401, 575 P.3d 491 (2025); In re

Helen-Edythe Richardson Revocable Living Tr. Dated Sep. 14,

1987, 157 Hawaiʻi 401, 577 P.3d 1092, No. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX, 2025

WL 2902421, at *3 (App. Oct. 13, 2025) (SDO) (concluding

"probate court erred in failing to issue such a written order

until after addressing the merits of the contested matters"); In

re Raymond K. Tanaka Tr. Dated Oct. 5, 1991, No. CAAP-23-

0000392, 2026 WL 622219, at *3 (Haw. App. Mar. 5, 2026) (SDO)

(finding error where probate court entered findings on remand

without first entering a new HPR Rule 20(a) order).

This is because, when an order retaining the case is

not timely issued by the probate court, "the parties [are] not

properly afforded the opportunity to request the procedures that

would be employed by the court, as specifically provided by HPR

Rule 20(d), and no such procedures were ever established in a

written order." See Short Trust II, 147 Hawaiʻi at 469 n.26, 465

P.3d at 916 n.26.

Here, the probate court's failure to enter its written

order retaining the case pursuant to HPR Rule 20 before holding

a hearing and deciding Gonsalves's petition was structural

error, requiring vacatur and remand.

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(2) Next, Gonsalves challenges the award of

The award of attorneys' fees in trust litigation is

premature absent a decision on the merits, which requires the

entry of a valid HPR Rule 20(a) order. In re Elaine Emma Short

Revocable Living Tr. Agreement, Dated July 17, 1984 (Short Trust

IV), 156 Hawaiʻi 401, 415, 575 P.3d 491, 505 (2025) (vacating

attorneys' fees award where the merits of the case had been

remanded for failure to enter an HPR Rule 20(a) order).

Thus, remand of this case also requires vacating the

award of attorneys' fees.

Based on the foregoing, we vacate the probate court's

January 31, 2024 Judgment and remand the case for further

proceedings consistent with this summary disposition order.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, March 31, 2026.

On the briefs: /s/ Katherine G. Leonard Presiding Judge Celeste M. Gonsalves, Self-represented /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen Petitioner-Appellant. Associate Judge

Tyson T. Tamashiro, /s/ Kimberly T. Guidry George O. White, Associate Judge (Tamashiro Sogi & Bonner), for Respondent-Appellee.