However, the Court of Appeal declined the application, clearing the way for the civil trial to begin in the High Court at Auckland on July 27.
The dispute centres on the Beere Family Trust, established by Stephen in 2008, and four properties previously owned by it: two in Kaitāia, a lifestyle block in Kohukohu (Far North), and a house in Auckland’s Glendene.
Court documents record that after Beere’s death, the three Northland properties were transferred out of the trust.
Warren Beere alleges this was done unlawfully and in breach of trustees’ obligations. He challenges the validity of Stephen’s 2015 will and a deed of variation, which he claims sidelined his family in favour of Stephen’s associates.
The defendants deny wrongdoing and maintain the transactions were legitimate.
One of the central disputes concerns the transfer of the three Northland properties to Phillip Nottingham. The defendants say Phillip, a builder, carried out extensive work for which he was owed money by the trust, and that the transfers were legitimate. Warren Beere disputes that claim.
Only the Glendene property remains in the trust, though its chain of title and the lawfulness of its transfers are contested issues for trial.
The defendants claim it continues to be used as a trust asset for security of loans, including mortgages taken to pay legacies under Stephen Beere’s will.
Under the 2015 will, Stephen directed $50,000 each to several associates, including Bullock, McKinney, Phillip and Dermot Nottingham, while his parents (his mother has since died) were left $50,000 to share.
More significantly, the residue of the estate – whatever was left after those gifts – was to be divided equally between each of the two Nottinghams, and another of Stephen’s associates Arifin Leo.
A 2015 deed of variation annexed the will to the trust, meaning trust distribution would follow the same plan. It also altered the trust structure so that the four defendants were ultimately trust beneficiaries alongside Stephen’s parents.
Warren declined the $50,000 legacy offered to him under the deed and instead brought these proceedings in 2021. He is seeking orders that could result in disputed transactions being reversed, independent trustees being appointed and trust assets being recovered.
Pre-trial proceedings have been marked by hostility and delayed by a series of procedural skirmishes. The defendants have repeatedly rejected Warren Beere’s allegations, describing them as “false, fraudulent, incompetent, defamatory, malicious, scandalous, and abusive”.
They accused his counsel of misconduct and sought to have him and his firm debarred from acting further in the proceeding, for contempt of court.
The Court of Appeal said no arguable error of law or fact had been identified in the earlier High Court ruling.
It found there was no justification for further delay, particularly given the substantive trial was scheduled for this month. It said the disputed issues should be tested at trial.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent reporting on the courts in Gisborne and the East Coast.