Following the poignant circumstances of the deaths last month of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, more uncertainty lingers over what will happen to his $80million fortune.
BBC News reports that the will of the double Oscar winner has been released, showing Hackman left his entire estate to his late wife, with no mention of his three children from his earlier marriage.
However, following the discovery of their bodies on February 26, authorities have established that Arakawa pre-deceased her husband by as much as a week. If this is ascertained, the BBC quotes an LA attorney saying this would render Hackman’s will invalid, and mean his children could have a claim to the estate.
California attorney Tre Lovell told the BBC: “The estate will actually be probated in accordance with intestate succession laws and the children would be lawfully next in line to inherit.”
They would also need to prove that the will is invalid because Arakawa died before Hackman, he added.
Arakawa’s will left all her assets to her husband, with the provision that if he predeceased her, they would go into a trust and then to charity.
The couple’s bodies were discovered in their Sante Fe, New Mexico home on February 26, and foul play soon eliminated as a course. Authorities said Arakawa died from a virus on February 11, with her husband surviving possibly a week longer, before he died of natural causes.
Hackman enjoyed a long career as one of Hollywood’s most critically respected as well as popular actors. He won two Academy Awards, the first for his lead role in The French Connection (1971) and the second for his supporting role in Unforgiven (1997).
