The Estate of Brian Paul Estaban

155 Haw. 258

• Court: Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals
• Decided: January 16, 2025
• Docket: CAAP-21-0000453
• Status: Published

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 16-JAN-2025 07:49 AM Dkt. 45 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI

THE ESTATE OF BRIAN PAUL ESTEBAN, also known as Brian P. Esteban, DECEASED.

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT (CASE NO. 1CLP-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER (By: Hiraoka, Presiding Judge, Nakasone and McCullen, JJ.)

Petitioners-Appellants Douglas B. Esteban and Kiona L.

Esteban (collectively Petitioners) appeal from the Probate Court

of the First Circuit's 1 July 6, 2021 "Judgment on Order Denying

Petition to Contest the Brian Esteban Will & Trust Dated

3/14/2014, Filed November 10, 2020" (Judgment Denying Petition

to Contest Will and Trust) and "Order Denying Petition to

Contest the Brian Esteban Will & Trust Dated 3/14/2014, Filed

1 The Honorable R. Mark Browning presided. NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

November 10, 2020" (Order Denying Petition to Contest Will and

Trust).

On appeal, Petitioners contend the probate court

"erred in failing to permit a contested hearing by referring

[their] Petition to the Civil Trials Calendar pursuant to

[Hawai‘i Probate Rules (HPR)] Rule 20." Petitioners further

contend this error violated their due process rights.

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 affirm.

HPR Rule 20 provides in pertinent part, "[t]he court

by written order may retain a contested matter on the regular

probate calendar or may assign the contested matter to the civil

trials calendar of the circuit court." HPR Rule 20(a) (emphases

added). We review the probate court's retention of the

contested matter for an abuse of discretion. In re Est. of Kam,

110 Hawai‘i 8, 24, 129 P.3d 511, 527 (2006). "[A]n abuse of

discretion occurs where the trial court has clearly exceeded the

bounds of reason or disregarded rules or principles of law or

practice to the substantial detriment of a party litigant."

Tr. of Est. of Bishop v. Au, 146 Hawaiʻi 272, 278, 463 P.3d 929,

935 (2020) (citations omitted).

2 NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Petitioners summarily maintain that the sheer volume

of documents filed in the probate court and issues raised

required more than a half day to resolve. Although Petitioners

filed multiple documents in probate court, many of those

documents raised the same issues or raised issues that were not

relevant to the probate case. Thus, the volume of documents

filed does not establish that the probate court disregarded

rules or principles of law to Petitioners' substantial

detriment.

Petitioners also argue their procedural due process

rights were violated when the probate court did not refer the

contested matter to the civil trials calendar as "they did not

have the opportunity to be heard or the opportunity to make a

factual record."

"[P]rocedural due process of law requires notice and

an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a

meaningful manner[.]" In re Guardianship of Carlsmith, 113

Hawai‘i 236, 239, 151 P.3d 717, 720 (2007) (cleaned up). "Where

a party has notice and an opportunity to be heard there is not a

denial of due process." Est. of Von Baravalle, 144 Hawai‘i 60,

434 P.3d 1255, No. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX, 2019 WL 762406 at *4 (App.

Feb. 12, 2019) (SDO).

Petitioners had notice of, and participated in, the

proceedings in this case. We note that Petitioners did not

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request transcripts of the proceedings and "[w]ithout the

relevant transcript[s], there is insufficient evidence to review

the alleged error[.]" State v. Hoang, 93 Hawai‘i 333, 336,

3 P.3d 499, 502 (2000); Hawai‘i Rules of Appellate Procedure

Rule 10(b)(1)(A) (placing the burden to request the necessary

transcripts on appellant). Thus, Petitioners failed to show

they were denied their due process rights.

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

July 6, 2021 Judgment Denying Petition to Contest Will and Trust

and Order Denying Petition to Contest Will and Trust.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawai‘i, January 16, 2025.

On the briefs: /s/ Keith K. Hiraoka Presiding Judge Pablo P. Quiban, for Petitioners-Appellants. /s/ Karen T. Nakasone Associate Judge Jared N. Kawashima, Christin D.W. Kawada, /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen for Respondent-Appellee. Associate Judge