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Struggle for family fortune has heirs requesting DNA tests

ORANGE - The scramble for the Stark family fortune took a turn for the weird Friday when a judge granted a request by H.J. Lutcher Stark's heirs to exhume the long-dead patriarch's body so that DNA tests can be performed to resolve paternity questions.

The corpse of Lutcher Stark's father, W. H. Stark, will also be exhumed and tested in hopes of confirming or dismissing long-standing rumors that Lutcher Stark's two adopted sons, Homer and William II, were in fact his biological offspring with his alleged mistress and later wife, Ruby Childers.

Another variation of the rumor suggests that Homer and William II, who is now deceased, may be the offspring of Lutcher's father, W.H. Stark.

At the heart of the paternity debate is the struggle by Stark offspring to stake their claim to the family fortune, estimated at $200 million, the bulk of which was bequeathed by Lutcher's third wife and widow, Nelda, to the philanthropic Stark Foundation.

When Lutcher Stark died in 1965, he left $1 million each to his two sons, and divided the remaining $73 million between the Stark Foundation and his third wife Nelda Stark, who was Ruby Childers' sister.

In 1987, Lutcher Stark's heirs sued for a larger portion of the estate, and eventually settled for $5 million in 1991.

By Nelda's death in 1999, her share of the estate had grown to about $200 million.

She willed $1 million to her stepson Homer, several hundred thousand dollars to friends and former employees, and the remaining $150 million-plus to the Stark Foundation.

In separate lawsuits, Homer Stark and children of his now-deceased brother William - William III, Randy and Lynn - are seeking a larger piece of the family pie.

Rebecca Nugent, Homer Stark's daughter, filed the petition to obtain the genetic samples on behalf of her father and her three other siblings.

It is uncertain what bearing the outcome of paternity tests will have on the Stark probate case.

Clayton Burgess, a Lafayette, La., attorney who represents William II's children, said his clients' claims against the massive Stark fortune are valid regardless of test results showing William and Homer to be biologically related to the clan.

"The outcome (of the DNA tests) could have a drastic effect on the case or none at all - it's too early to say," Burgess said. "At this point, we just want to know the truth."

Attorney John C. Smith, who represents the Nelda Stark estate, could not be reached later Friday afternoon for comment.

Bill Stark, who still resides in Orange, along with his siblings, said he hopes the test results, even if they have no bearing on the probate case, will help bring a sense of finality to the family.

"This is something that has been circulating around the rumor mill for quite some time now," said Bill Stark. "I just want my uncle (Homer Stark) to know who his real father was and for my cousins and me to know who our grandfather is."

According to the court order, the remains of W.H. Stark and H.J. Lutcher Stark will be removed from the Stark Family mausoleum in Orange so that technicians from Cell Mark Inc may remove tissue samples for DNA testing. The date of the exhumations has not yet been set.