Rhonda L. Griswold

About Rhonda

Rhonda L. Griswold is a Partner with Cades Schutte and Chair of its Trusts and Estates Department. Her practice focuses on estate planning, trust administration and fiduciary duties, and probate, conservatorships, and guardianships. Ms. Griswold’s practice includes advising clients as to all areas of estate planning, from basic wills and trusts to more sophisticated planning such as generation-skipping dynasty trusts, sales to irrevocable trusts, qualified domestic trusts, charitable gifts, and family limited partnership planning. Ms. Griswold also devotes a substantial amount of her practice to counselling corporate and individual fiduciaries as to their duties in the administration of estates, the proper interpretation of wills and trusts, and the termination and distribution of trusts. In addition, Ms. Griswold represents clients in contested probate and trust proceedings. Ms. Griswold is a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a court appointed member on the State of Hawai‘i Committee on Uniform Probate Code and Probate Court Practices. Ms. Griswold was selected by her peers to be included in Best Lawyers in America for the past 10 years. She has been listed in Honolulu Magazine’s ”Best Lawyers in Hawaii“ for the same period. She has a Martindale-Hubbell’s Peer Review rating of AV (highest level of professional excellence for attorneys admitted to the bar for 10 years or more), and has been identified as one of Hawaii’s ”Super Lawyers.“ Ms. Griswold is a member of the American Bar Association, the Hawai‘i State Bar Association, Gift and Estate Tax Section (former Chair), former President and current Director of Hawai‘i Women’s Legal Foundation, Secretary and Director of the Hawai‘i Justice Foundation, a Director of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association, and a Director of the Cades Foundation. REPRESENTATIVE CASES In re Elizabeth J. K. L. Lucas Charitable Gift, 125 Haw. 351 (2011) (clarifying cy pres doctrine in Hawaii). In re Robinson Trust, 110 Haw. 181 (2006) (trust interpretation case). In re Medeiros Testamentary Trust & Life Insurance Trust, 105 Haw. 284 (2004) (trust interpretation case). In re Estate of Ferdinand Marcos, 88 Haw. 148 (1998) (finding no Hawaii domicile in probate proceeding). EDUCATION J.D., William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii B.A., California State University at Chico ADMISSIONS Hawaii State Bar United States District Court for the District of Hawaii AWARDS AND HONORS Best Lawyers Super Lawyers PUBLICATIONS Encyclopedia of Estate Planning, Hawaii State Bar Association (Editor-in-Chief 2007 ed.) Hawaii Conservatorship and Guardianship Manual (contributing author 2005 and 2010 Ed.) Estate Planning Forms Manual (contributing author, 2000) You and the Law in Hawaii, Estate Planning and Probate, Kapiolani Community College Television Series (Panelist) Hawaii Probate Sourcebook (1992 and 1996 Ed.) MEMBERSHIPS/ACTIVITIES Hawaii State Bar Association (Estate and Probate Section; Elder Law Section) American Bar Association (Tax Section; Probate and Trust Section) American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Committee on Uniform Probate Code and Probate Court Practices (Court Appointed Member) Director, Hawaii Women Legal Foundation Secretary/Director, Hawaii Justice Foundation Director, Hawaii State Bar Association Director, Cades Foundation Estate Planning Council SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS Ms. Griswold has given numerous seminars and speeches in a wide variety of estate planning and trust administration issues.

Practice Areas

Estate Planning Insights

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Education

• University of Hawaii at Manoa, J.D., graduated 1984

Bar Admissions

• Hawaii, Hawaii State Bar Association

Languages