GENE Hackman’s 3 children “will likely get everything’ in $80 million estate – despite actor leaving them out of will.”
Speaking exclusively with The U.S. Sun, legal expert and powerhouse attorney Goldie Schon delved into legendary Heist star Hackman’s estate and explained exactly why his adult children, Christopher, Leslie and Elizabeth are likely poised to get most, if not all, of the actor’s fortune, despite his also deceased younger wife leaving everything to charity.
“For unforeseen reasons, these two people passed similarly in time, but oddly enough, she passed before him, and as a result, we have a situation where now, even though his desires were for his estate to go to her in its entirety without even providing it to his adult children, Betsy did pass before him,” Schon said.
“And what does that do? Now we’re in a situation where his will and trust says that everything goes to her, but she died first.
“But now what it is, is actually fairly simple. It’s going to be a fight, of course, but it’s simple because it’s as if Gene Hackman passed without a will.”
As the legal eagle explained, the actor’s estate goes into what is called intestate – it’s as if he had no will at all.
“Let’s just simplify it. It is as if he did not say who’s it going to go to, and when that happens, we have other rules in place that tell us who it’s going to go to, and the first people that it goes to are your next of kin which would be his children.”
Schon said she was not surprised to learn that Hackman’s son had recently found an attorney to represent him in the fight over his father’s estate.
“It is not odd or strange that one of his children, or all three of his children, for that matter, will find an attorney and counsel to obtain a portion of his estate.
“Because, quite frankly, that’s the way it should be if there was nothing between the children and Gene Hackman.”
The expert added that since there wasn’t anything in the French Connection star’s will that expressly cut out his children, there is even more of an argument that they should inherit his estate.
“Gene Hackman wasn’t intentionally saying in his will or trust, ‘I do not want my children to get any of my estate.’
“If that was said, we would be in a different situation, but that was not said.
“This is just a man who had been with his wife for decades and loved his wife and understood that his wife was younger than him, and wanted to give his estate to her, to allow her to live her life in however she deemed appropriate.”
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“The fact that he did not ex-communicate his children from his estate planning tells me that there was not a problem.
“At this point, its not strange that that the children want to share and obtain their father’s estate.
“I think everybody should be good with that. We should find some solace that his estate will go passed down through his own family,” Schon added.
As The U.S. Sun previously reported, Hackman and Arakawa owned several pieces of pricey real estate, but they were all in the wife’s name alone, and her will designates her estate should go to charity.
PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
Despite that, the expert believes Hackman’s children could also have a good argument to try to lay claim to the $11 million property portfolio as well.
“This property in Hawaii, or any other property that was placed in his wife’s name during marriage, this is now a little bit more interesting, because wife, who had no children, said in her estate planning, ‘Hey, I want all of my estate to go to charity.'”
“I’m sure everybody can appreciate that, considering she didn’t have any children. But now, what do we do? She pre-deceased him.”
Schon noted that it matters where the Hackmans resided from a legal perspective for his adult children to try to go for the property.
“The interesting part about this is they lived in New Mexico, which is still a community property state.
“So there’s argument to be made that, in fact, the property that was purchased during the marriage, even though it was placed in the name of the wife, it still has community interest.
“When she passed, there is an argument for it to go back to Gene,” the expert added.
She said if Hackman’s children wanted to make the argument in probate court, they could claim it was in fact part of their dad’s estate since Betsy passed first, and that the argument would be made more difficult if a charity came forward with a legal argument to claim it instead.
The U.S. Sun exclusively reported that Hackman and Arakawa owned three high-value properties when they tragically died.
The Santa Fe estate where their lives ended has been appraised at $3.8 million.
Additionally, two more properties have now come to light as part of their real estate holdings.
One of these is a sprawling commercial property located in Honolulu.
This mixed-use site appears to consist of two separate buildings, housing both businesses and residential units.
Records from the local tax assessor’s office estimate the value of this property to exceed $6 million.
The couple also owned a smaller piece of land in New Mexico, which the local tax assessor values at roughly $1 million.
Although Hackman reportedly earned the majority of the couple’s wealth, with an estimated net worth of $80 million, all of their properties are exclusively registered in Arakawa’s name.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
At the same time, the investigation into their deaths continues to raise more questions than it answers.
A court order tied to the actor’s estate has barred the Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the Medical Investigator from releasing any information about the case.
As previously reported by The U.S. Sun, sources close to the investigation have noted that restricting access to autopsy reports in New Mexico is highly unusual.
Adding to the mystery, police have confirmed that Arakawa was alive for a full 24 hours longer than they initially believed.
Gene Hackman’s family’s full statement
Gene Hackman’s family has spoken out on the actor’s death after he was found dead with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, in their Santa Fe home.
Hackman’s daughters, Elizabeth and Leslie, and his granddaughter, Annie, released the statement.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy,” Elizabeth, Leslie, and Annie Hackman said.
“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa.
“We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss.”
Gene’s passing was attributed to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease listed as a significant contributing factor.
Betsy’s death, on the other hand, was caused by a respiratory illness associated with hantavirus, a rare infection spread by rodents.
The bodies of the Hackmans were not discovered until February 26, when a neighbor’s caretaker dialed 911 after finding them unresponsive.
Authorities revealed that Arakawa had died about a week prior to her husband.
