Hugh Green family feud: Fight over rich-lister's $400m

The late philanthropist Hugh Green. Photo / Steven McNicholl

The fight between the family of the late philanthropist Hugh Green is continuing, with two siblings now applying to remove their sister from two trusts that control much of their father's $400 million empire.

Maryanne Green in June won a major courtroom victory for control of the Green Group, which was started by her father in the 1950s when he immigrated here from Ireland.

In that case, then-Chief High Court Judge Helen Winkelmann found Hugh Green was subject to undue influence from his son John when he made a series of decisions in the last year of his life.

Maryanne Green, daughter of Hugh Green. Photo / Doug Sherring

These decisions included removing Maryanne as a trustee and a director and signing his final will in April 2012, a few months before he died.

The judge ruled that will to be invalid and she later reappointed Maryanne to a slew of Green Group companies.

Justice Winkelmann also declared Maryanne was a trustee of the Hugh Green Trust and Hugh Green Property Trust, which control the business side of the Green Group.

The judge also said that John and Frances Green — who joined company boards in the months before their sister was removed from them — were not validly appointed and are not directors of the Green Group firms.

She also removed the pair from the two trusts in question.

The decision is being appealed and as well as this, John and Frances have now made a new application to remove Maryanne from the two trusts.

Maryanne, in turn, wants a restraint on her exercising her power to vote as a trustee lifted.

This restraint was put in place in July to try avoid any further discord between the parties.

The matter came back before Justice Winkelmann today in the High Court at Auckland, with much wrangling between the two sides' lawyers about the way forward, pending the application to remove Maryanne from the trusts.

Maryanne has now agreed to not exercise her powers as a trustee until November 30, ahead of an application from her siblings to restrain her from doing so while the bid to remove her is dealt with.