Stacy Takekawa
Stacy was born on Oahu and raised in Kailua. Stacy grew up in a household with her grandparents and understands what a priceless experience that was and how it has helped to shape the person she has become. During Stacy’s first year of law school she was living at home with her family when her grandfather began to significantly decline while suffering from vascular dementia. Stacy experienced first-hand what it is like to watch a loved one decline and the toll that took on the rest of her family. Grandpa was able to live out the remainder of his life in the home he had lived in since the 1960s. Stacy has seen the dramatic difference a person’s environment during their end-of-life care can have on their overall well-being, and she is grateful that her family was prepared enough to allow Grandpa and Grandma to remain in their home. Stacy is hopeful that through her practice she can assist clients with their estate planning to facilitate an easier transition through incapacity and death so that their families can spend their time and energy focusing on their loved ones.
Stacy spent a year following law school clerking for the probate judge on Oahu and relies on this experience when counseling clients. During her clerkship, she encountered countless examples of the devastating toll that either poor planning or no planning can have on families and friends following the death of a loved one. Stacy’s experience has shown her how unpredictable life can be, and that proper estate planning is crucial to avoiding unnecessary, costly, and lengthy court proceedings.
A wise old sailor once said, “It’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” Stacy believes that proper preparation can make any experience more enjoyable—whether it be traveling, participating in a sport or activity, or transitioning from life to incapacity and death. Stacy enjoys meeting with clients to discuss their goals, concerns, assets, and other important factors in order to create an estate plan that works for the client and helps them prepare for the future. Stacy counsels clients to give them peace of mind that they have done all they can to make future transitions easier for themselves and for their loved ones.
Stacy attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Rhetoric and Film Studies. Stacy lived in the Pacific Northwest for a couple of years before returning home to Hawaii where she earned her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. As a law student, Stacy clerked for the Hawaii State Department of Education’s Civil Rights Compliance Office and the Animal Legal Defense Fund in Portland, Oregon. Stacy was also the President and Founder of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter at Richardson. Following law school, Stacy served as a law clerk for the Honorable Derrick H.M. Chan of the First Circuit Court. Thereafter, Stacy was an associate at the law firm Cades Schutte in the Trusts and Estates Department. Stacy’s practice focused on estate planning, trust administration and litigation, estate administration and probate, and conservatorship and guardianship proceedings. Stacy is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association and is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in Hawaii. Stacy is a member of the Probate and Estate Planning and Elder Law Sections of the Hawaii State Bar Association.
Stacy enjoys spending time with her family and her dogs. She also enjoys playing soccer, hiking, walking the beach with her dogs, and golfing.
