The Hill branch of Dallas’ storied Hunt oil dynasty is back in court, with a 21-year-old Vanderbilt University student claiming a family trust tied to oil baron H. L. Hunt was quietly stripped of millions that were supposed to help the grandchildren.
Caroline M. Hill has filed suit in Dallas County Probate Court No. 2, asking for access to the books and records of the Lyda Hunt–Margaret Trust. In her petition, she describes herself as a contingent beneficiary and alleges the trust, which she says should hold at least $15 million, was “looted” and effectively dissolved, leaving little for the younger generation. It is the latest flare-up in a generations-long fight inside the Hunt family over trusts created from the oil fortune.
According to Justia, a Jan. 30 memorandum opinion by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay rejected an attempt by defendants to use a 2010 global settlement to shut down Hill’s state-court case. Lindsay concluded that the Lyda Hunt–Margaret Trust “was a separate trust that was never litigated, mentioned, or incorporated into” that earlier deal. He also noted that the family’s federal docket runs to more than 2,060 entries and held that the federal court’s continuing jurisdiction did not extend to the Lyda trust. The ruling cleared a major procedural hurdle and let the probate action move forward, at least for now, in Dallas County.
Appeals court refuses to pause probate fight
The Dallas Morning News reports that Hill’s petition repeats the claim that the Lyda Hunt–Margaret Trust should contain at least $15 million but was “looted” and dissolved, and that defendants tried to block the state case from going forward. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an unpublished March 10 order, denied a request for an injunction pending appeal and left the dispute to play out in Dallas County probate court instead…