Ku v. Dai Fukuji Soto Mission

492 P.2d 651, 53 Haw. 245, 1971 Haw. LEXIS 108
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 27, 1971
DocketNo. 4734
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 492 P.2d 651 (Ku v. Dai Fukuji Soto Mission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ku v. Dai Fukuji Soto Mission, 492 P.2d 651, 53 Haw. 245, 1971 Haw. LEXIS 108 (haw 1971).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

KOBAYASHI, J.

This appeal involves an action to quiet title, brought by-appellant, Alice Ku, to have her interest determined in numerous parcels of land also claimed by appellees. The trial court hearing the case without a jury, dismissed the suit, finding that appellant did not have title.

Ehu was the original grantee and common source of title to the land in question. He was given two Grants, Grant 974 containing 50 acres and Grant 2028 containing 44 acres, situate in what is now Kuamoo, North Kona, County and State of Hawaii. Before trial the ownership of Grant 2028 was settled by agreement of all the parties and judgment by stipulation was entered. As such, only Grant 974 is involved in this appeal. The crux of appellant’s appeal is her claim to an undivided fee simple interest in Grant 974 by virtue of the following deeds:

[246]*2461. Ehu to Keapo (Kauinui’s first husband) and others, April 24, 1876.
2. Huia (wife of Kailikini) and others to C. C. Achong (Kauinui’s second husband), November 7, 1896.
3. G. N. Alapai to Charles Ka, April 1899.
4. Palealii to Charles Ka, July 24, 1900, denied admission into evidence by trial court.
5. Charles Ka to Aiu, August 2,1929.
6. Charlotte Aiu Lewi, et al., to Alice Ku, February 15, 1960.

Ehu had three grandchildren, Alapai (grandson), Kauinui (granddaughter), and Kailikini (grandson). As to the Ehu deed, the trial court found that he conveyed both Grants 974 and 2028 to Keapo, Kauinui, Kailikini, and Alapai’s four children, George Naholuwaa (G. N. Alapai), Palealii, Haliaka and Kaneikauhilani, who died in infancy. (Alapai, father of G. N. Alapai, predeceased Ehu.) Appellant at the trial attempted to have the Ehu deed invalidated on the ground that it was not a deed but an invalid testamentary disposition. The trial court ruled that it was a deed and this ruling has not been appealed.

ISSUES

In deciding this case we must determine whether the trial court, in ruling that appellant had no interest in Grant 974, erroneously construed the deeds through which appellant is claiming title. Each deed in question has its own disputed particulars and in some instances the construction given the individual deeds depends upon the effect of subsidiary conveyances and other extrinsic evidence. In addition there is the question of whether the trial court erroneously refused to admit the Palealii deed into evidence.

DEED OF G. N. ALAPAI TO CHARLES KA

The following interest was included among the properties conveyed by the G. N. Alapai to Charles Ka deed of April 1899:

[247]*247And together with my undivided interest in the undivided shares of Kauinui (w) in the lands of Ehu (k) as described in Patent Number........situate at Kuamoo, Kona, Hawaii.

This description comes from the Hawaiian through English translation of the deed admitted into evidence.

The trial court in its decision said that at the time of the above conveyance G. N. Alapai had an undivided interest in certain tax parcels in Grant 974 and an undivided interest in Grant 2028, “and hence there appears to be a latent ambiguity as to which parcel of land the grantor intended to convey.” In holding that the ambiguity created by the deed did not make the instrument void for uncertainty or vagueness the trial court cites the proposition that “[a] deed will not be declared void for uncertainty if it is possible, by any reasonable rules of construction, to ascertain from the description, aided by extrinsic evidence, what property it was intended to convey.” 6 Thompson on Real Property, § 3021 at 444-45 (1962).

Appellant does not challenge the trial court’s interpretation of the law in this area, it is the trial court’s application of the extrinsic evidence utilized in determining the grantor’s intent that is questioned. The trial court found that because G. N. Alapai had conveyed by deed (the Huia to C. C. Achong conveyance in November 1896 and the G. N. Alapai to Malani conveyance in October 1898) a major portion of Grant 974 prior to 1899 and because the remainder of Grant 974 was being adversely possessed, the description of the property in the Charles Ka deed referred solely to Grant 2028 and not to Grant 974.

Even assuming for the moment that the trial court’s construction of the Huia and Malani deeds is correct, its ascertainment of G. N. Alapai’s intent cannot be sustained. In reaching its decision the trial court specifically found that it was “unnecessary to make detailed findings of fact as to adverse possession.” Yet in ascertaining the intent of the grantor of the deed in question the trial court relied on the [248]*248supposition that that portion of Grant 974 that was not conveyed by G. N. Alapai prior to 1899 was currently being adversely possessed. This reliance must be regarded as misplaced. It cannot be shown that G. N. Alapai knew that Grant 974 was being adversely possessed in 1899. Furthermore, a present finding of adverse possession would in no way be indicative of G. N. Alapai’s intent at the time of his conveyance to Charles Ka.

There is nothing sufficiently persuasive to indicate that G. N. Alapai intended to convey only one of the Ehu grants and exclude the other. As such, it is evident that the trial court’s construction of the deed is clearly erroneous. Given that, although the description of the land is incomplete, the deed is a valid conveyance based on the extrinsic evidence adduced, there remains but one conclusion to be drawn from the grantor’s language. That is that the property conveyed by G. N. Alapai to Charles Ka in 1899 included both G. N. Alapai’s described interest in Grant 2028 and Grant 974.

DEED TO C. C. ACHONG

Since we have found that the trial court erred in not including Grant 974 as property having been conveyed by the deed of G. N. Alapai to Charles Ka, it is necessary to determine in what portion of Grant 974 G. N. Alapai had a possible interest in 1899. This determination requires an analysis of the trial court’s construction of the deeds to C. C. Achong and Malani.

The trial court found that Huia, G. N. Alapai, and others conveyed by deed their interests in “division 1” of Grant 974 to C. C. Achong and certain others in 1896. Appellant contends that G. N. Alapai was not a grantor of that deed but was in fact a grantee, thereby acquiring a greater interest in Grant 974 than he had previously held. To support this assertion appellant points to the fact that the deed reads in part, “an absolute sale of land above described with all rights and privileges held by [to] C. C. Achong and the heirs of Alapai and their heirs and executors forever.” In distin[249]*249guishing between G. N. Alapai and his father, the Alapai referred to as “the heirs of Alapai” is interpreted to mean the father, grandson of Ehu. Taken by itself, this would tend to provide validity to appellant’s position that G. N. Alapai, as a legal “heir of Alapai”, should be included as a grantee.

It is evident, however, when the language of other portions of the deed is taken into consideration, that appellant’s construction of the deed is incorrect. The grantors specifically designate who the phrase “heirs of Alapai” is intended to include. While this enumeration specifies C. C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
492 P.2d 651, 53 Haw. 245, 1971 Haw. LEXIS 108, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ku-v-dai-fukuji-soto-mission-haw-1971.