Opinion ID: 1154746
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Land Court Applications, Decisions, and Decrees

Text: On January 28, 1959, the Trustees filed Land Court Application No. 1767 (Lunalilo Application) to register fee simple absolute title to the strip. Landowners adjoining the strip opposed the Lunalilo Application and asserted ownership to the particular parcels of land abutting their respective Lots A through I based on the 1885 deeds to the original grantees and claims of adverse possession. The State also opposed the Lunalilo Application and claimed ownership to the disputed area. The State asserted that: (1) The fee simple ownership of the [strip] was never conveyed to the [Trustees] because the land was not included within the boundaries of the Iliaina of Kapahulu; (2) The fee simple ownership of the [strip] was never conveyed to the Trustees because it was a public road prior to the Land Commission Award to Lunalilo, and an award in name only does not pass title to an existing public roadway; or (3) The State has acquired fee simple title to the [strip] by means of statutory dedication as a public road. See Land Court Joint 1767 Decision at 2 (emphasis added). Roy and Estelle Kelley filed Land Court Application No. 1768 (Kelley Application) on January 30, 1959, seeking to register absolute fee simple title to their residence Lot B and Lot A (parcel 5). Because the Kelleys also opposed the Lunalilo Application, the land court on March 2, 1961 ordered the Lunalilo and Kelley Applications consolidated for trial but limited the Kelleys only to presenting matters of defense raised in their answer to the Lunalilo Application. The March 2, 1961 order also provided that upon completion of the trial of the mutual issues raised in both applications, the land court would then proceed to complete the trial of the Kelley Application. On July 3, 1962, the land court issued a joint decision (1767 Decision), concluding that the Trustees had conveyed title to the strip to the original grantees of the abutting parcels of land by the deeds executed in 1885, and therefore, the Trustees ha[d] no title in the [strip] to register. 1767 Decision at 14. Because of this determination, no evidence was presented on the landowners' claims of adverse possession. The land court also found all of the State's asserted claims to be without merit and that it had failed to establish any claim to this area. Id. The land court subsequently issued a decree (1767 Decree) on March 19, 1963, adjudging that the Trustees did not have title to register. The Kelley Application was only opposed by the Trustees and the State. The State initially asserted arguments identical to those in opposition to the Lunalilo Application, but added a new defense concerning the location of the highwater mark. After the 1767 Decision and Decree were issued in the Lunalilo Application, the land court completed the separate trial on the Kelley Application and issued a supplemental decision on January 9, 1964 (1768 Decision), which explicitly ruled: The parties appearing herein are bound by the Joint Decision rendered by this Court [the 1767 Decision] ... wherein this Court held, among other things, that the Trustees did not have title to the [strip] (which includes [parcel 5]), and that the State of Hawaii had failed to establish any claim to the said [strip] (and Lot A). 1768 Decision at 2. Relying heavily on the findings and conclusions contained in the 1767 Decision, the land court concluded that the Kelleys had successfully established their fee simple ownership to parcel 5 to the high water mark. Id. at 7. In view of the land court's finding that the Kelleys had otherwise proven their title, the land court declined to hear the Kelleys' adverse possession claim. The land court then issued a decree (1768 Decree) confirming and registering fee simple title to the Kelleys for Lots A (parcel 5) and B.