Gene Hackman’s children could still inherit his £62 million ($80 million) fortune despite not being named in the Academy Award winner’s will. The actor left his entire estate to his wife Betsy Arakawa, but she tragically died in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last month.
According to a legal expert, because Betsy, 65, is believed to have died seven days before her husband, Gene’s fortune could default to his three children: Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58. California attorney Tre Lovell said that Gene’s will, last updated in 2005, named Betsy as the sole beneficiary. Therefore, the 95-year-old’s estate could pass down to his children because no other beneficiary was named.
Mr Lovell told BBC: “The estate will actually be probated in accordance with intestate succession laws and the children would be lawfully next in line to inherit.”
However, Gene’s children would have to prove that the will is invalid due to Betsy’s earlier death.
Betsy’s own will left her assets to Gene and stated that if they died within 90 days of each other her estate would be put in a trust and later donated to charity.
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According to US reports, Gene’s son Christopher has hired a top lawyer who specialises in will disputes.
Gene’s daughters paid tribute to the Superman actor following his death, saying they were “devastated” by their loss and would “miss him sorely”.
Leslie later admitted that she hadn’t spoken to her father in months. She told the Daily Mail: “We were close. I hadn’t talked to them for a couple months, but everything was normal and everything was good.”
Authorities confirmed last week that Hackman died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease about a week after a rare, rodent-borne disease — hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — took the life of his wife.
Gene, in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, apparently was unaware that his wife was dead.
The actor was found in the home’s entryway, and Arakawa was found in a bathroom.
While both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said the case is still considered active while investigators tie up the timeline with any information from the mobile phones collected at the home.