Posted on 03/14/2025 9:29:21 AM PDT by Red Badger
Surprising Detail, Twist In Gene Hackman's Will Revealed By Jason Hall
March 14, 2025
Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa Portrait Photo: Getty Images Legendary actor Gene Hackman's children were reportedly left out of his will, TMZ reports.
Hackman, 95, made his wife, Betsy Arakawa, the sole beneficiary of his fortune in 1995, leaving out his son Christopher and daughters Leslie and Elizabeth. Arakawa, 65, who is suspected to have died one week before her husband, had also reportedly listed Hackman as the sole beneficiary in her own will and documents allegedly show that her savings would be donated to charity if both died within 90 days of each other.
Awakawa's estate could still go to charity as New Mexico is a community property state while Hackman's estate could presumably go to his children, despite not being included in his will, as they are the most direct living heirs. Hackman's son, Christopher, the oldest of his three adult children, reportedly hired prominent California trust and estate attorney Andrew M. Katzenstein to challenge the will, according to TMZ.
Hackman was reported to have died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer's as a factor, while Arakawa was reported to have died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, New Mexico State Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell confirmed. Betsy is suspected to have died first as all outgoing communication from her cellphone and email ceased on February 11, the last day she was spotted publicly, while Gene is suspected to have died on February 18, as it was the last day his pacemaker registered data, though Dr. Gerald specified that there was no reliable scientific method to determine an exact time for either death.
The couple's dog, Zinna, was found dead inside a locked crate by first responders, while two others were reported to have wandered the property for days and guided first responders to the legendary actor. Officials reiterated that foul play was not suspected in Hackman and Arakawa's deaths and the scene was tested for carbon monoxide, with only a minute leak found that was deemed to be insignificant.
Hackman, a two-time Academy Award winner, and his wife were married for 34 years. Police reportedly found the couple at around 1:45 p.m. local time on February 26. Hackman's legendary acting career spanned more than 60 years, providing an everyman believability to numerous iconic roles, including playing Jimmy Doyle in The French Connection (1971) and Little Bill Daggett in Unforgiven (1992), which won him the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.
The California native was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for roles in Bonnie & Clyde (1968) and I Never Sang for My Father (1971), as well as Best Actor for Mississippi Burning (1989). Hackman is also remembered for playing arch villain Lex Luthor in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), as well as Coach Norman Dale in Hoosiers (1986) and Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) among numerous other iconic roles.
Good on you.
I quite my job to be with my Father for his last 7 months.
We created a schedule where either I, my brother, sister and stepmom were with him 24 hours a day.
Social and care givers were the best in the last month. God bless those folks.
Divorcing after 30 years of marriage, I’m sure she got a considerable payout.
Exactly what I told Mrs. V_TWIN.....really surprised it was ONLY 80 MIL.
Also, I wouldn’t doubt if there will be the issue of royalties somewhere along the line.
My wife went through that as part of clawing back her dad’s estate from her aunt that had illegally probated in her name.
It took two years to unwrap that from around the axel......whatca mess. SMH
Still spamming threads with that same post over and over for weeks, weird.
They gave us life, the least we can do is see them off.
Not that I know of.......................
Yes, doing the math regarding the length of time he dated his second wife before their marriage and the date of divorce from his first wife, he had taken up with Arakawa before his divorce.
The alleged information in the media about wealthy celebrities is always suspect. Journalists do not have access to non-public information. New Mexico may or may not publish the will as an open document in the probate case.
The main point is that probate, via a will, is not the only way for a person to pass property at death. Hackman may have placed assets in a trust, and that trust would contain language about the disposition of assets at death. A trust is not a public document and does not have a (semi) public process like a court procedure of probate for a will.
The will operates only on probate assets - property owned by the decedent at the time of death. If he or she transferred ownership of assets to a trust, those assets would not appear in the probate process. It is precisely for this reason that wealthy people use trusts, to pass property at time of death without publicity.
The 90 day rule is probably NM statutes, under their simultaneous death provision. It is mainly intended to define what happens when people die together in a situation (e.g., plane crash) where it is impossible to determine who died first. But it can also define a period of time (proximity) which is deemed to be simultaneous. There are some jurisdictions with 100 hour rules, perhaps NM sets it at 90 days. The testamentary instrument can supersede that by specifying its own simultaneous death provision.
Good point, even if she took good care of him. Taking care of demented patient is stressful; plus he had heart condition.
IMO, she needed help...maybe a nurse assistant or even house keeping help
Correction, spammed 7 times since March 7, and people have answered your question repeatedly.
I suspect she did not allow them to check up on him. Kind of like Casey kasem.
“The “Duck”, I says!”
I laugh every time I think of that scene!!!!
Children from first wife often get the shaft. More so the older the person gets. And more so when it is a man. I speak in generalities .
If the woman gave birth to a child the less likely to get screwed over. Although, Cher could give her latest boy toy everything.
The poor dogs. The one in the crate probably died of lack of water. Horrible!
When you’re not only rich but famous, it’s pretty hard to find people you can trust, to come into your home, steal nothing, and talk to no one about what they see and hear. (I’m thinking this couple already had some unpleasant experiences.)
So you try to get by without help, rather than go through that again.
> Gene Hackman’s net worth was estimated at $80 million at the time of his death.
before or after betsy’s cut, i wonder...
Each state has legacy laws. In fl you cannot leave less than 30% to spouse I believe. Other factors assets like individual accounts with pay on death if the listed beneficiary is dead the on the rules of the business prevail.
40 million of that will be the house THEN the taxes will be astronomical!!!
what is your answer?
“Hackman, 95, made his wife, Betsy Arakawa, the sole beneficiary”
How is that a twist? Seems like the norm to me.
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