Latest news with #GeneHackmanLivingTrust
Express Tribune
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's wills reveal estate and trust plans
The wills of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, confirm that they left their estates to each other, with their assets now placed in a trust following their deaths. According to probate records from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Hackman, the Oscar-winning actor, named Arakawa as the personal representative of his estate and the successor trustee of his Gene Hackman Living Trust. Arakawa's will similarly directed her estate to the trustee of Hackman's trust should he outlive her. After their passing—Arakawa on February 11, 2025, from Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and Hackman a week later at age 95 from natural causes—the estates transferred into a trust. However, without public trust documents, it remains unclear how their assets will be divided. Julia L. Peters, an official at a Santa Fe trust company, has been appointed as the personal representative for both estates, as Arakawa and first successor Michael G. Sutin are deceased. Peters has notified Hackman's three children from his previous marriage—Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie Hackman—of the appointment. Hackman's estate includes assets from his GeBe Revocable Trust, dating back to 1994, which also passes into the Gene Hackman Living Trust. Arakawa's will stipulated that if Hackman predeceased her, any remaining funds would go into a charitable trust benefiting the community. With both wills now in probate, Peters is responsible for ensuring their estate plans are executed per their wishes.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gene Hackman Signed His Will 20 Years Ago, Making It 'Exponentially Harder' to Contest: Legal Expert
Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy signed their wills in June 2005, 20 years before they were both found dead in their home on Feb. 26 A legal expert tells PEOPLE it is impossible to know who is named in Gene's trust given that Betsy, whom he named successor trustee, died days before him Further details behind Gene's trust have not been made public, though his will came to light March 14 Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy signed their wills in 2005, and any potential challenge to the contents of their wills may be hard to dispute, a legal expert explains. David Esquibias, a legal expert who is not affiliated with this matter, tells PEOPLE the fact that Gene and Betsy — who were both found dead in their home on Feb. 26 — signed their wills 20 years ago could make a contest to the will more unlikely. "In this situation, Gene Hackman and his wife did not sign their will and trust in 2025 or 2024," he says. "But, had that been the case, I think there was more likelihood that there's gonna be a contest. But if you look at the dates of the will, they're 2005." Just one year after Hackman made his final movie Welcome to Mooseport, the actor "was younger and more virile" and "presumably had his faculties," he adds. He adds, "Contesting a 20-year-old document is exponentially harder than contesting a deathbed-signed document." Gene, who died at 95, and Betsy, who died at 65, named each other as the personal representatives of each others' estates when they signed their wills in June 2005. Betsy was also named the successor trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust, but given Gene and Betsy's deaths, Esquibias says it is impossible to say who the beneficiaries of Gene's trust are because that information has not been made public. Related: Gene Hackman's Estate Seeking to Block Release of Police Bodycam Footage and Photos After Actor and His Wife Betsy's Deaths "In this case, we don't see who the beneficiaries are of the Gene Hackman trust because the Gene Hackman trust hasn't been either publicly released or it's not part of the probate proceeding. Typically, though, the probate proceeding, at least in California, the trust is usually included." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Whether information regarding Gene's trust will be made public remains unclear, but without that information, it's impossible to know whether Gene's three adult children — Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58, whom he had with first wife Faye Maltese — are included, Esquibias says. TMZ reported March 14 that Christopher appeared to have hired trust and estate attorney Andrew M. Katzenstein. Esquibias says that hiring is "probably just routine, just, 'Hey, let's get some legal representation for some general advice.' " Katzenstein did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. "I don't think in this case it probably means it too much," he says. Related: Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy Died 7 Days Apart. Their Shocking Causes of Death Revealed by Authorities Julia L. Peters, chief counsel at Avalon Trust Co., a Santa Fe investment firm, has been appointed as the personal representative of both Gene and Betsy's estate moving forward; the remainder of Betsy's estate is to go to her personal representative to hold in a charitable trust "to achieve purposes beneficial to the community, consistent with the charitable preferences and interests expressed or indicated by my spouse and me during our lifetimes," as Betsy wrote in her individual will. Additionally, Betsy's will states she may have made a statement or list separately from her will that indicates whom she would give her personal property to. Authorities revealed March 7 that their investigation found Betsy died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is caused by hantavirus, one full week before Gene, and that he was most likely alone in their home with his dead wife for days. Hackman died from a combination of severe heart disease, high blood pressure and advanced Alzheimer's disease, authorities said. Read the original article on People
USA Today
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa named each other in their wills
Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa named each other in their wills Show Caption Hide Caption Death timeline of Gene Hackman, wife Gene Hackman and his wife died a week apart and from entirely different causes. No foul play is suspected in the deaths. Details of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa's wills reveal they each wanted to leave their estates to each other. In Hackman's will — obtained by USA TODAY from his probate case in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday — the Oscar-winning actor named Arakawa (referred to in the document as Betsy Arakawa Hackman) as the personal representative of his estate and the recipient of his "entire estate" in her role as the successor trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust. Arakawa's will details that her estate would go to the trustee for Hackman's trust, should her husband outlive her. Both estates will now go into a trust. Without trust documents, it is unclear how Hackman's assets will be divided and among whom. "Whomever acts as trustee will be bound by the actual terms of the decedents' trust documents and shouldn't be able to influence the distribution of assets. It will be the trustee's job to simply carry out the terms of the trust," says San Diego estate attorney and certified public accountant Michael P. McCarthy, who is not affiliated with the case. "Normally this is done privately and without formal court supervision." Hackman also appointed "the remainder of the trust estate" of a separate trust that dates back to September 1994, called the GeBe Revocable Trust, in Arakawa's favor. The will, dated June 7, 2005, also notes he has three children from his prior marriage to Faye Maltese: Christopher Hackman, Elizabeth Hackman and Leslie Allen. The Daily Mail was first to report on the couple's wills. Hackman and Arakawa were found dead last month in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home. Arakawa, 65, died from Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease that is contracted by contact with mouse droppings. And Hackman, 95, had heart disease and complications caused by Alzheimer's disease and died from natural causes. Arakawa died on Feb. 11 and Hackman died a week later, investigators said. A mask, a cane and a frantic dog: Inside the final hours of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa Who is in charge of Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa's estate now? Julia L. Peters, who was named as the second successor personal representative of Hackman's estate, took over the duties as Arakawa and the first successor, attorney Michael G. Sutin, are both deceased. A successor trustee, per Cornell Law School, is someone who assumes responsibility of managing a living trust property in the case that the original trustee dies or becomes incapacitated. A personal representative, meanwhile, is in charge of the decedent's estate and pays debts and taxes, collects assets and distributes the remaining property to heirs or beneficiaries as designated in the decedent's will. Santa Fe district court documents reviewed by USA TODAY show Julia Peters, who works for a Santa Fe-based trust company, has been appointed the personal representative of both Hackman's and Arakawa's estates following the couple's deaths last month. In an application filed March 6, Peters asked the court to informally admit Hackman's will to probate and informally appoint her as his personal representative. A First Judicial District Court judge approved the application that same day. Who is in Gene Hackman's trust? On March 7, notice of Peters' appointment as Hackman's personal representative was mailed out to his three children. Peters noted in a March 13 petition to the court that "there are trust assets to be administered in both the GeBe Revocable Trust and the Gene Hackman Living Trust," and that the GeBe trust "passes through the Will of Gene Hackman to the Gene Hackman Living Trust." The latter "contains mainly out-of-state beneficiaries," per her court filing. She also wrote, "After specific bequests to (Hackman's) identified beneficiaries," the rest of his trust will be "distributed in accordance with the desires of Gene Hackman as expressed in the trust document." The trust has not been made public. Betsy Arakawa's will left her estate to Gene Hackman Meanwhile, Arakawa's will — dated, like Hackman's, to September 2005 — details what she wanted to be done with her estate. After all expenses and debts are paid upon her death, she wrote, her "tangible personal property" is to be given to designated people in a list that is separate from her will. Then the "residue" of her estate would go to the trustee for Hackman's trust, should her husband outlive her. Arakawa stipulated that if her husband died before her, a personal representative should put the remainder of her estate — funds that were not used toward paying for various costs and debts — in a charitable trust. The trust would "achieve purposes beneficial to the community, consistent with the charitable preferences and interests expressed or indicated by my spouse and me during our lifetimes." She named Hackman as her personal representative, with Sutin and Peters as alternates. There is also a caveat in her will that names the terms of "simultaneous death and survivorship" when it comes to beneficiaries. This section states, "No person will be deemed to have survived me if the person dies within 90 days of my death." Peters is also the personal representative in Arakawa's probate case. In one of her court filings, she names Arakawa's mother as the sole heir.
