The singer Don Ho is not making any more songs after his death, but he appears to be making some interesting new law. Ho’s daughter, Dondi Ho-Costa has filed a lawsuit alleging that he violated a deathbed promise made to her mother in 1999 over Lanikai beachfront property.
The promise was allegedly made to Ho’s first wife, Melva, raised Ho’s first six children. The promise was to leave the house for her benefit and that of her children. The problem is that Ho had as many wives and kids as hit records. When he died, the house went to a trust benefitting Ho’s first six children as well as four children from two other mothers, including Ho’s second wife, Haumea, and his longtime friend Liz Guevara. The property is worth $6.8 million.
It will present a fascinating case. The verbal contract had witnesses but appears superseded in a later instrument. Such cases are rarely wrong when a written contract or trust stands in conflict. However, it is not impossible.
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