A judge ruled Wednesday that a hearing to determine whether Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa is capable of handling her own financial affairs will be open to the public except for when the discussion turns to medical and financial information.

Circuit Judge James Ashford issued an order saying the Hawaii Constitution and Hawaii court records rules protect the disclosure of private information, specifically including medical and financial information, and the state Supreme Court has ruled along those lines as well.

But it’s unclear just how much of the hearing actually will be open to the public, since the state of Kawananakoa’s mental health and financial situation will be at the heart of the three-day evidentiary hearing set to begin March 9.

The battle over Kawananakoa’s $215 million estate has been ongoing since the woman suffered a stroke in 2017, pitting her former attorney, James Wright and her spouse, Veronica Gail Worth Kawananakoa, against each other and potentially throwing into doubt the fate of about half of the fortune, which is earmarked for Native Hawaiian causes.

Several members of the media on Wednesday asked that the upcoming hearing remain open, arguing that the 93-year-old woman has been open about her mental state and financial situation and even distributed a video to show off her mental capacity.

In a motion, Kawananakoa’s attorney, Bruce Voss, argued that the information discussed at the hearing would be invasive and threatened to pierce his client’s right to privacy.

In his ruling Ashford said not only would the part of the hearing concerning Kawananakoa’s medical and financial information be closed but the transcript of those portions of the proceeding would be sealed.

In October Probate Court Judge R. Mark Browning ordered the hearing to determine if a conservator is needed to oversee Kawananakoa’s financial affairs outside the trust. He also ordered an updated medical evaluation.

The new evaluation was conducted by Dr. David Trader, a Los Angeles psychiatrist, the same doctor who examined Kawananakoa after her stroke and concluded she lacked financial capacity and wasn’t able to make complex decisions, although he did say she had testamentary capacity — or about the same level of mental acuity needed to make out a will.

Ashford earlier ruled that Kawananakoa likely would have to testify at the hearing, the first time she would take the stand since the proceeding began two years ago.

Kawananakoa’s nontrust assets include her ranching and quarter horse operations, which consist of a 15-acre horse ranch in Nuevo, Calif., and a smaller one in Washington state.