Howard Hughes dies in 1976, but fights still rage over his estate, 22 years later. Mt Hughes dies without a formal estate plan. In 1978, Melvin Dummar was one of hundreds of people claiming to be heirs of the Hughes fortune, which was rumored to be about $43 billion.
Mr. Dummar told a tale of how he came upon and aved Mr. Hughes, who was wandering in the middle of the desert. As a reward, Hughes left him with $156 million in a hand scrawled will. The will was declared a forgery in the original 1978 probate case, but apparently more evidence has been uncovered.