Hunt Family Consumed By Feud Over Billions in Trust Funds

H.L. Hunt’s great grandson, Albert Hill III, sued trustee Tom Hunt, his father and his two aunts, claiming mismanagement of assets by Tom Hunt, and conspiracy by the trustee, his father, and his aunts.

Here are some details of this story from Eric Torbenson, Hunt family embroiled in trust lawsuit, dallasnews.com, Nov. 8, 2007:

“Al Hill III didn’t sue his father until after his father sued him and said he was not the beneficiary of these trusts, fired him from the family business and filed documents in probate court that made certain claims that would oust Al and his grandchildren from any interests in these trusts”[.]***

H.L. Hunt created separate trusts for the six children he had with his first wife, Lyda, to pass along the fortune. In the suit, Mr. Hill III states that he became a direct beneficiary of the trust when his father, Mr. Hill Jr., “disclaimed” most of his interests in the Margaret Hunt trust March 22, 2005.

That “irrevocable disclaimer” made Mr. Hill III a direct beneficiary of the Margaret Hunt trust when she died June 14, according to the suit. Margaret Hunt Hill was Al Hill Jr.’s mother.

Tom Hunt, H.L. Hunt’s 84-year-old nephew, and the other Hill family members “conspired” to break up the Margaret Hunt Trust Estate and the Harold Lafayette Hunt Jr. Trust and “partition” it among themselves by selling the assets they contained, primarily control of shares of Hunt Petroleum Corp.

When Mr. Hill III, 37, confronted the parties, he was told he wasn’t a direct beneficiary but rather a “contingent beneficiary” of the trust.***

Special thanks to Jon Platt and Mark Killingsworth (J.D. Candidates, Texas Tech University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.