Judge names bank trustee for Hawaiian heiress’ fortune
HONOLULU — A 92-yearold Native Hawaiian heiress doesn’t have sufficient mental capacity to manage her $215 million trust, a judge ruled Monday in a bitter case that has raised allegations her wife is trying to wrestle control over her assets.
Abigail Kawananakoa inherited her wealth by being the great-granddaughter of James Campbell, an Irish businessman who made his fortune as a sugar plantation owner and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners.
Native Hawaiians, who consider her a princess because she’s a descendent of the family that ruled the islands before the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893, have been watching the case closely because they are concerned about the fate of the foundation she set up to benefit Hawaiian causes.
The judge appointed First Hawaiian Bank to serve as trustee and removed Jim Wright, Kawananakoa’s longtime former attorney who stepped in as trustee after she suffered a stroke last year.
Kawananakoa said she’s fine, fired Wright and then married her girlfriend of 20 years. She attempted to amend her trust to remove Wright and replace him with three others, including her wife, Veronica Gail Worth.
Removing a trustee is less complex than replacing one, Judge Robert Browning said in not allowing her to select new trustees.
Browning said he spent many days pondering his decision, which he said didn’t change after hearing arguments Monday.
It’s an important decision, partly because Kawananakoa is revered, he said.
Wright’s court filings raised allegations that Worth physically abused her.