Rosemarie S.J. Sam - Honolulu, HI
Attorney at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel A Limited Liability Law Partnership LLP
Trust and Estate Litigation and Controversy Lawyers in Honolulu, HI
999 Bishop Street Suite 1600 Honolulu, HI 96813
- 1 Super Lawyers®
-
21
Years
Experience
Honolulu Trust and Estate Litigation and Controversy Lawyer
Updated: 03/10/2026
Areas of Practice
- Trust and Estate Litigation and Controversy
- Trust and Estates
Attorney Information
Overview
Rosemarie S. J. Sam concentrates her practice in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration, and trust and estate litigation. She has represented clients in establishing estate plans, implementing sophisticated estate planning techniques, planning for incapacity, administering and terminating trusts and estates, and resolving will and trust controversies. She has been elected as a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America as 2022 Lawyer of the Year, Litigation – Trusts and Estates.
Examples of her work include:
- Basic Estate Planning: Prepared estate planning documents, such as wills, revocable living trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, durable powers of attorney for asset management, advance health-care directives, digital asset authorizations, designations to control disposition of remains, deeds and other conveyance documents.
- Advanced Estate Planning: Prepared documents to implement sophisticated estate planning techniques such as generation skipping trusts, leveraged gifting through the use of family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, charitable remainder trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, qualified domestic trusts, asset protection trusts, and installment sales to “intentionally defective grantor trusts.”
- Probate and Trust Administration: Counseled fiduciaries (personal representatives of probate estates and trustees of trusts) on proper administration and termination of estates.
- Trusts and Estates Disputes: Defended fiduciaries and advocated for beneficiaries in contested proceedings, including breach of fiduciary duties, financial elder abuse, undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, and other challenges to validity of trust instruments.
- Conservatorship/Guardianship: Represented clients to establish and administer conservatorships and guardianships of incapacitated adults.
Rosemarie is the Editor-in-Chief of the Hawai’i Probate Forms Manual (4th ed.), co-author of the Hawai’i Conservatorship and Guardianship Forms Manual (2nd ed.), and co-author of “Trusts and Estate Primer”, Hawai’i Bar Journal (Nov. 2010). She was a member of the drafting committee for Hawai’i's Uniform Trust Code, which was adopted in 2022. She is also a court appointed member of the Committee on Uniform Probate Code and Probate Court Practices and a former Lecturer of Finance Estate Planning at the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i. She has lectured on a range of topics, including trust and estate administration, fiduciary duties, estate planning, conservatorships, preventing estate litigation through estate planning, planning for and administering digital assets, and asset protection planning. Rosemarie was selected as a member of Pacific Business News’ “Forty Under 40” Class of 2011.
Awards and Honors
Honors
- The Best Lawyers in America, since 2018
- Super Lawyers, since 2022
- "Forty Under 40", Pacific Business News, Class of 2011
Other Sources of Feedback About Rosemarie S.J. Sam
Included on the 2026 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
Past Lists
- 2025 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
- 2024 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
- 2023 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
- 2022 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
- 2017 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
- 2016 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
- 2015 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
- 2014 Hawaii Super Lawyers list
Education
-
Legal Education
-
University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law,
Honolulu,
Hawaii, 2005
J.D.
Honors: cum laude
-
University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law,
Honolulu,
Hawaii, 2005
-
Non Legal Education
-
University of Washington,
Seattle,
Washington, 2000
B.B.A.
Major: Business -
University of Washington,
Seattle,
Washington, 2000
B.A.
Major: International Studies
-
University of Washington,
Seattle,
Washington, 2000
Current Employment Position(s)
-
Partner
Past Positions
- United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Extern
- Honorable Colleen K. Hirai at the First Circuit Court of Hawaii, Clerk
Classes and Seminars
- Former Lecturer, Finance Estate Planning at the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i
Published Works
Articles
-
Editor-in-Chief, Hawaii Probate Forms Manual (4th ed.)
-
Co-Author, Hawaii Conservatorship and Guardianship Forms Manual (2nd ed.)
-
Co-Author, "Trusts and Estate Primer", Hawaii Bar Journal (Nov. 2010)
Bar Admissions
- Hawaii
- U.S. District Court District of Hawaii
Other Affiliations
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (Fellow)
- Hawaii State Bar Association (Past Chair, Elder Law Section)
- Hawaii Tax Institute (Advisory Committee)
- Hawaii Estate Planning Council (Past President)
- Committee on Uniform Probate Code and Probate Court Practices, Appointed Member
Photo
Contact
999 Bishop Street
Suite 1600
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808-547-5600
Fax: (808) 547-5880
Email: Send a message
Website: https://www.goodsill.com
Disclaimer
Your Profile? Update Now
When viewing a listing, consider the state advertising restrictions to which lawyers and law firms must adhere, as well as our FindLaw.com Legal Directory disclaimer. Some lawyers publish comparative information regarding the services that they provide which may be subject to specific comparative communications restrictions.