Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 11, 1 November 2015 — State high court rules in favor of family defending its land [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

State high court rules in favor of family defending its land

Contributed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

The Hawai'i Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of a Native Hawaiian family defending their family land in Mahukona, Hawai'i from an adverse possession elaim. In its October 8, 2015 decision,

the Supreme Court confirmed the ownership interests of members of the McDougall family in their family land and denied Ka'upulehu LandLLC's (KLL) elaim to ownership by adverse possession. Adverse possession is an ownership elaim based upon the open, notorious, hostile and continuous use of someone else's land for a specific period of time. The Court confirmed that entities elaiming title to property by adverse possession bear the burden of proof. The Court also held that definitive and actual proof of a deed is required to establish that one's ancestor sold his or her interest in the family property. "This decision means that our clients no longer need to fight in court to prove that they own their family land," said David Kauila Kopper, staff attorney for Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, whieh represents the McDougall family. "They cannot be denied their ownership rights any longer." The lawsuit began in 2008 when KLL filed a quiet title action to elaim ownership of twelve acres of land at Mahukona on Hawai'i Island owned, in large part, by

the McDougall family. Even though it could only prove a one-quarter interest in the prop-

erty by deed, KLL claimed that since Parker Ranch had used the property

for ranching since the 1960s, it obtained title to the McDougall family land through adverse possession. Hawai'i law prevents a coowner of property from bringing an adverse possession elaim

against other co-owners. So, and despite any evidence of a deed, KLL argued that the eommon predecessor in title to the McDougalls and KLL, David Kahoiwai, sold the property to an unknown person prior to his death. In 2010, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of KLL and against the McDougalls. The McDougalls appealed to the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) who reversed, holding that KLL did not adequately prove its adverse possession elaim, and KLL appealed the ICA's decision to the Supreme Court. "The Court's decision continues and affirms the current trend whieh disfavors adverse possession as a means of obtaining title to property in Hawai'i", said Kopper. "We believe this trend finally spells the end of the days of large agribusinesses routinely succeeding in taking Native Hawaiian family land through quiet title cases." ■ Thi.s is part ofa series ofcase Irighlights provided by the Native Hawaiian Legal Cotporation