Marfa
After nearly eight years of legal battles over the future of the 65,000-acre Brite Ranch in Presidio County, the primary conflict appeared headed to a settlement agreement last month, but the ending hit a snag with the objections of one of the four siblings involved in the conflict—Hester Ann White—despite her minimal involvement in the proceedings over the course of years. Shortly after the failure to settle, she filed her own lawsuit claiming that her brothers, Mac White and the late Beau White, both with no children, had committed fraud by secretly adopting a middle-aged man that would dilute her inheritance.
The legal proceedings—primarily over who could control the historic ranch and whether it could be divided and sold in pieces—were a quagmire of multiple lawsuits with at least 667 filings for the primary suit. Principal parties in the lawsuits are the heirs to their late mother’s trust, siblings Jim, Mac, Beau and Hester Ann White. Beau died in June 2025, but he and Mac had both adopted Geoffrey Conner, then 59, in 2022. Jim’s three sons—Cuatro White, Clint White and Marti White Wright, intervened in the lawsuit in support of their father, with daughter Raphael White Woodward also being included in lawsuit proceedings.
Before Beau died, he made adopted son Conner the executor of his estate, which wasn’t unusual, since he is an attorney. But Conner then inserted himself into the lawsuit, claiming he was the heir of Beau’s trust.
When attorneys for Jim, Mac and Conner gathered in the Presidio County courthouse in Marfa on February 24, they intended to seal their deal and modify their trusts involved in the ranch ownership, paving the way for each sibling to sell their parcels as desired, including sister Hester Ann. The exact details of the settlement are not public, but a modification of the trusts motion filed publicly in January outlines that each of the four siblings would be the sole trustees of a quarter of the ranch and that a previous prohibition against selling the ranch would be rescinded. (The settlement agreement might outline different amounts of ownership.)
Likely the biggest concession by Jim and his son Cuatro was that they would no longer fight the validity of Conner as a trustee, after previously claiming his adoption was a “sham” intended to dilute their side of the family as beneficiaries.
Hester Ann’s new attorney, Steve Anderson of Alpine, objected to a final ruling on the settlement and trust modifications at the hearing when he told the court that he and his client had not had adequate time to review the filings, that they should have had 45 days instead of about a month given.
Cuatro’s attorney, Don Campbell, argued repeatedly that the sister’s request was unreasonable, especially since she has been a named party in the suit all along. “Hester Ann has never filed anything contesting anything,” he said, and added that neither had her three children, who would be heirs to her trusts at her death. Campbell said Hester Ann did nothing during a trial for the case, nothing in almost three years after it. She or her attorney would occasionally show up for hearings, but they never filed any motions or argued any positions. “Hester Ann’s attorney can’t just sit on his hands for three years,” Campbell added.
Anderson reiterated that Hester Ann—and he, as her new attorney—were interested in the final settlement, but more time was needed to digest the 60 or so pages. He also offered an explanation for her not participating in proceedings over the years. “My client tried to stay out of this case,” he said. “She didn’t want to sue anyone because they are family.”
Jim’s attorney, David Reber, argued that he went to meet Anderson a month prior. “I went to Alpine to meet Anderon and go through the [trust] modifications on January 27,” he said.
District Judge Tryon Lewis said Anderson’s objection to finalizing the deal was “relevant” and ultimately agreed to halt the proceedings. Last summer, an appeals court stayed the suit from any final judgment, but the court agreed to open a window of time for Lewis to allow the parties to continue to file motions and hopefully move toward a settlement; that deadline would have been on February 27, three days after the hearing, and with no time to come to an agreement with Hester Ann, the lawsuit and settlement would be shut down. The settlement—the result of at least four mediation sessions over the years and numerous negotiations—appeard dead in the water.
Attorneys for Jim, Mac and Conner told Judge Lewis it might be possible to go back to the 8th Court of Appeals in El Paso to ask for a deadline extension for new hearings, which they did. The appeals court, on March 5, granted a 30-day extension.
While Hester Ann’s lawsuit slammed the brakes on the final judgement on a settlement and trust modifications, it’s unclear if it will continue to impede progress with the extension.
Her lawsuit claims that the “secret” adoption of Conner was a “fraud” and part of a “conspiracy,” and that Mac and Beau breached their duties as trustees to do nothing to the detriment of her own trust. Hester Ann’s lawsuit asks for Conner to be removed as Beau’s trustee—something that might need to be addressed before a new settlement could be sought.
Complicating matters is that there is a separate partition lawsuit that would force the parties to divide the land and allow for sale that might be different than the settlement agreement. That lawsuit is on track with a different judge and a schedule of orders for finalizing surveys and appraisals of the ranch, along with deadlines for parties to buy out other heirs.
The only thing for certain moving forward is that the warring siblings, seemingly on a path to resolution, are again tangled in a labyrinth of legal questions needing to be resolved.
The parties involved in the lawsuit and their attorney have consistently noted they would not comment on the case.
The Brite Ranch, abutting Capote Peak, was founded by Lucas Brite, who built a Hereford cattle empire on the land in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The ranch was also the site of the Brite Store raid in 1917, in which Mexican bandits raided the headquarters and killed three people, and the following massacre of 15 Mexican and Mexican American young men in the village of Porvenir, Texas, has been alleged by many as payback for the raid. For more about the ranch and extensive lawsuit coverage, see bigbendsentinel.com/brite-lawsuit.