Rule 79 Notice in Ancillary Proceedings

When someone dies owning property in Hawaiʻi but their estate is mainly being handled in another state, Hawaiʻi may open a separate case just to deal with that local property. This is called an ancillary proceeding. This rule explains who must be told about that Hawaiʻi case.

The main personal representative, the person handling the estate in the other state, must always be given notice of the Hawaiʻi proceeding. This makes sense because they are overseeing the estate as a whole and need to know what happens with the Hawaiʻi property.

The rule also covers a specific situation. If the only property being handled in Hawaiʻi was left to a specific person through the will (rather than being part of the general leftover estate), then the people who would inherit the "leftover" part of the estate do not need to be notified once the will has been accepted by the court. Since their share does not include this specific property, they are not considered to have a legal interest in this particular Hawaiʻi case.