Wellington lawyer Greg Kelly, regarded as an authority on wills and estates, says there is no one-size-fits-all approach that will ensure harmony reigns when you die.
And although the vast majority of estates aren't contested, the more money that is at stake, the more incentive a family member has to try to get some of it.
Kelly says that because of an increase in the number of second marriages, a "classic fight" over an estate now involves the children from a first marriage and their parent's latest spouse.
"You've got children of a first marriage with competing claims against a second or third spouse or partner, and quite often that can get acrimonious," he says.
"Things like family trusts, putting business assets in different companies and having an up-to-date will are very important because if you don't do those things you can leave a real mess behind which can be very expensive to sort out and money can go to people who you may not have wanted to benefit."
The most common avenue used for disputing an estate is through the Family Protection Act, which allows a will to be challenged for not adequately providing for particular members of a family.
Despite what someone might have penned as their final wishes, the court can reconstitute a will if it believes the departed failed in their duty to provide for certain relatives.
But aggrieved kin can claim only from what is left in the estate at the time someone dies.
If property has been gifted before death, it cannot be the subject of this sort of dispute.
Chapman Tripp senior partner Arthur Young - stressing that he is speaking generally, not about the Erceg, Gough or Green cases - says a lot of planning is needed if sizeable business assets are due to come under another generation's control.
"It can take years to accomplish [the transition] smoothly and fully," he says.
"It's not just a matter of weeks or months, and so it is a thoughtful and careful process that needs to be planned for."
Young believes a discretionary family trust is the ideal mechanism to facilitate this sort of change - if it is set up properly.
He says someone setting up a trust needs to anticipate where control of the business should lie in the long term, and put all that in a letter of wishes.
"This generally isn't a legally binding document, it's generally informal ... in conjunction with a well structured trust, a letter of wishes can be a very useful thing to guide all those who are involved, including family members."
While there certainly could be scraps over trusts, people's affairs were often sorted out without dispute.
Although it isn't a legal remedy to keep relatives at bay, another senior lawyer says consulting your family and communicating your wishes to them before you die can help to forestall any problems.
If they know your wishes ahead of time, there is a better chance that they will stay on side when the time comes to divide up an estate.
Case #1:
The Ercegs
Liquor magnate Michael Erceg was believed to be one of New Zealand's richest men when he died in a helicopter crash almost a decade ago.
Erceg, who was 50 at the time of his death, was the founder of Independent Liquor and was estimated to be worth $620 million.
He 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 Lynette Erceg, and others.
It was then sold in 2011 for $1.5 billion to Japan's Asahi Group Holdings, which now runs the business.
The family of businessman Michael Erceg, who was killed in a helicopter accident, at his funeral held at the Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in 2005. From left: his sister Vinka, mother Millie Erceg, and wife Lynne Erceg. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The following year, Michael Erceg's mother, Millie, brought an action in the High Court at Auckland against her daughter-in-law and Darryl Gregory as trustees of the Erceg Family Trust.
The proceeding related to the Erceg estate but the details remain secret and were subject to suppression orders during a hearing last year.
Justice Raynor Asher last month declined a media request to view the court file and said the parties seeking to litigate private disputes had a "legitimate privacy interest".
"Such cases often settle and assertions are made that are later regretted and changed ... there is the chance that publication will widen an unfortunate family rift making settlement more difficult," the judge said.
Judge Raynor Asher. Photo /Steven McNicholl
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 in January 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 meetings.
Offers had been made for her to view the documents on specified terms, but Millie Erceg's lawyer argued that without access to them she could not require the defendants to account for their actions as trustees.
The defendants' lawyer, in his arguments, referred to a confidentiality clause in the trust deed. "The trustees are concerned that disclosure of the identity of the other beneficiaries under the trust and the benefits received by individual beneficiaries from the trust will create further disharmony between family members where there is already an unfortunate history of tension and conflict between them," Justice Venning said in his decision, which also revealed that Millie's son Ivan Erceg was acting as a family adviser.
The judge ordered that Millie Erceg was to have some access to certain documents, subject to redactions and confidentiality conditions.
Case #2:
The Goughs
