- Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead in their New Mexico home in February.
- Hackman’s will named his wife as the successor trustee of his living trust.
- The fate of the Oscar-winning actor’s fortune may remain private unless his will is contested.
Gene Hackman and his wife of more than 30 years valued their privacy — so much so that the fate of the Oscar-winning actor’s reported $80 million fortune may remain a mystery unless his children contest his will in court.
Court documents filed in the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico and obtained by Business Insider show that a 2005 copy of Hackman’s will named his wife Betsy Arakawa Hackman as the successor trustee of his living trust.
“I give my entire estate to Betsy Arakawa Hackman, as the Successor Trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust, under trust agreement dated September 22, 1995, as amended and restated from time to time, most recently on the same date as this Will,” the document reads.
New York-based trust and estate attorney Lawrence D. Mandelker, who is not involved in the matter, told BI, “That’s a way of saying, ‘I’m giving it to the trust.'”
Hackman had intended for his wife to serve as the person responsible for carrying out the instructions of the trust, the contents of which are not publicly known.
The trust document, which typically has provisions about how a person’s assets are to be distributed, could become public if there is a legal dispute over Hackman’s will, according to Mandelker and Jason Kohout, a Wisconsin-based attorney who focuses on income and estate tax planning.
“Most practitioners use this type of arrangement for almost all clients of a certain level of wealth,” said Kohout, a partner at the firm Foley & Lardner LLP, who is also not involved in the matter.
Kohout referred to Hackman’s will as a “pour over will” and called it a “very common practice to avoid having the disposition of the estate become public.”
Hackman’s three children from a prior marriage — Christopher Hackman, Elizabeth Jean Hackman, and Leslie Anne Allen — are only named in the will to state that they are, in fact, his children.
It’s entirely possible that they do stand to inherit some of the fortune, though the public likely won’t know unless it’s contested, the estate lawyers told BI.
Elizabeth Jean Hackman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI. Christopher Hackman and Leslie Anne Allen could not be reached for comment.
“Usually, the people that can object to a will are a limited class of people, and it’s usually limited to the next of kin,” said Mandelker, a partner at the firm Venable LLP.
Although it’s unknown what type of relationship Hackman had with his children at the time of his death, the actor discussed their relationship during a 2000 interview with the Irish Independent, saying, “It’s tough being the son or daughter of a celebrity.”
“I couldn’t always be home with them when they were growing up, and then, living in California, they’ve had my success always hanging over their heads,” he said.
Hackman’s will also named Arakawa Hackman as the personal representative of his estate and said that if she would be “unable to serve for any reason,” a lawyer identified as Michael G. Sutin would serve as his estate’s representative.
Since Sutin has died, Julia L. Peters — the chief counsel at the Avalon Trust investment firm — was next in line and she’s now serving as the representative of both Hackman’s estate and the estate of Hackman Arakawa.
It is possible that Hackman’s assets were to be distributed in full to Arakawa Hackman, but as Hackman’s will named backups, his trust likely names a backup beneficiary, Mandelker said.
“You’re always going to want a backup, and if there isn’t the backup, then you have to follow the default laws,” said Mandelker.
Court papers filed by Peters’ attorney identified Hackman’s children as his heirs.
“The fact that this type of arrangement was used is no indication as to whether his children will be the ultimate beneficiaries,” said Kohout.
Hackman’s wife’s will has a critical provision
A 2005 copy of Arakawa Hackman’s will obtained by BI said that if Hackman lived longer than her, she would give what’s left of her estate to the Gene Hackman Living Trust.
The will says it would go to charity if he died first. But because of a critical provision in her will, this may not be the case.
“No person will be deemed to have survived me if the person dies within 90 days of my death,” a provision in the will states.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa Hackman, 65, were found dead at their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home in late February. Investigators believe that Arakawa Hackman died about a week before Hackman.
Their deaths were both found to be due to natural causes. “The French Connection” star died of complications from heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease, while Arakawa Hackman died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a medical examiner ruled.
Since Hackman died just days after his wife, this would put whatever assets Arakawa Hackman had in a charitable trust under the provisions of her will.
“Even though he was alive when she died, according to this will, he’s considered to have pre-deceased her,” Mandelker said. “So all of her property is going to go to charity.”
It’s not clear how the assets of Hackman and his wife, who was a classical pianist, were divided among them.
Arakawa Hackman’s will said she had no children or lineal descendants. A court document filed by Peters, the representative for the couple’s estates, identified Arakawa Hackman’s mother as her heir.
Court papers filed by Peters in a separate matter say that Hackman and his wife “placed significant value on their privacy and took affirmative, vigilant steps to safeguard their privacy.”
Peters had asked the court to block the release of records and photos related to the couple’s deaths. A judge this week temporarily barred the records from being made public.
