Erceg mother ordered to pay $27,000 in 'wasted' court costs

Millie Erceg (left) and Lynette Erceg, at the 2005 funeral of Michael Erceg. File photo / Brett Phibbs

The mother of Michael Erceg has to pay $27,000 in "wasted" court costs to her daughter-in-law as part of the High Court fight over the deceased liquor magnate's estate.

Erceg was the founder of Independent Liquor and estimated to be worth $620 million at the time of his death almost a decade ago.

In 2012 Erceg's mother Millie brought an action in the High Court at Auckland against her daughter-in-law Lynette Erceg and Darryl Gregory as trustees of the Erceg Family Trust.

The proceeding related to the Erceg estate but the details have not been publicly aired and were subject to suppression orders during a hearing in 2013.

Millie Erceg, now in her 80s, also brought civil proceedings against Lynette Erceg and Gregory as trustees of the Acorn Foundation Trust.

This trust sold its shares in Independent Liquor for a "substantial sum", according to a ruling last February from Justice Geoffrey Venning.

In this litigation, Millie Erceg was seeking copies of financial documents for this trust, agreements for sale of the trust's shares in Independent Liquor, valuations and minutes of trustee meeting.

The parties appeared in court for another round of the stoush last December, where Michael's brother Ivan was seeking summary judgment against Lynette Erceg and a fellow trustee

Strict confidentiality orders were put over the details of the arguments.

In the latest encounter between the warring family members, Justice Venning has told Mille to pay $34,614 to Lynette and the trustees of the Erceg Family Trust

This is slightly less than the $35,495 they were seeking.

The costs award follows an application to adjourn a hearing and a fixture being vacated.

Some $27,000 of the amount awarded was for the "wasted preparation" for a trial, but Justice Venning does not go into much more detail in his decision.

Michael Erceg was piloting his private helicopter to Queenstown with a friend when the craft disappeared off the radar near Raglan in November 2005.

The wreckage was found about two weeks later in dense bush, and both men are believed to have died on impact.

Independent Liquor, which makes Vodka Cruiser and other ready-to-drink beverages, was put up for sale after Erceg's death and bought by private equity interests, his widow, and others.

It was then sold in 2011 for $1.5 billion to Japan's Asahi Group Holdings, which now runs the business.