CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 46-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2016

RE:    S.B. No. 2408

       S.D. 1

       H.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2408, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PARTITION OF HEIRS PROPERTY,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this measure is to adopt the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which establishes procedures and remedies applicable to actions for partition of real property that is deemed heirs property.

     Your Committee on Conference finds that in 2010, the Uniform Law Commission promulgated the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act to provide a fair solution to the risks posed to those who own heirs property, which is real property held in tenancy in common that meets certain requirements.  This measure adopts language that closely mirrors the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which establishes a hierarchy of remedies designed to protect a family's property holdings and real property wealth and is intended to provide cotenants with many of the protections and rights commonly found in private agreements governing the partition of tenancy in common property.  Your Committee on Conference further finds that family members in a partition action may be unfamiliar with their rights under the partition action or may not be able to afford counsel.  This measure addresses these concerns by requiring the court to determine, as a jurisdiction matter, whether the property in question is heirs property and also specifies that the court is responsible for appointing a special master to fulfill the notice requirements associated with an action for partition.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing its effective date to January 1, 2017; and

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2408, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2408, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Co-Chair	____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair
____________________________ KARL RHOADS, Co-Chair	____________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Co-Chair