Gene Hackman’s will excludes children and leaves $80m fortune for late wife

The will of legendary actor Gene Hackman has been released, but uncertainty lingers over his $80m (£62m) fortune.

The two-time Academy Award winner left his entire estate to his wife of 30 years, Betsy Arakawa. But Arakawa, 65, was found dead alongside her husband in their New Mexico home last month.

Legal experts have now said that, because authorities say Arakawa died seven days before her husband, Hackman’s children could now potentially inherit his fortune, despite not being named in the will.

His three children with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese – Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58 – have not commented publicly on the matter.

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find upsetting

Legal documents obtained by the BBC show Hackman, 95, named Arakawa as his sole beneficiary in 1995, with the last update to the will in 2005.

However, California attorney Tre Lovell told the BBC that the estate could default to them under succession laws, as long as there was no other beneficiary named.

“The estate will actually be probated in accordance with intestate succession laws and the children would be lawfully next in line to inherit,” he said.

They would also need to prove that the will is invalid because Arakawa died before Hackman, he added.

Authorities say Arakawa passed away on 11 February after contracting a rare virus, days before Hackman died of natural causes.

The couple was found dead in separate rooms of their $4m Santa Fe home on 26 February after neighbourhood security conducted a welfare check and saw their bodies on the ground through a window.

Arakawa was found in the bathroom with pills scattered nearby, while Hackman was in the back of the house, wearing sweatpants and slippers, his cane and sunglasses beside him.

Officials determined he died seven days after his wife due to severe heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s listed as a contributing factor.

Authorities initially deemed the scene “suspicious” but later ruled out foul play.

Arakawa’s own will left her assets to Hackman, with a provision that if they died within 90 days of each other, her estate would go to a trust and later be donated to charity after covering medical expenses.

Hackman has in the past discussed his relationship with his children.

“You become very selfish as an actor,” he told The New York Times in 1989. “Even though I had a family, I took jobs that would separate us for three or four months at a time. The temptations in that, the money and recognition, it was too much for the poor boy in me.”

Hackman’s children, though rarely in the public eye, occasionally attended red carpet events with him.

In another interview, Hackman talked about the difficulty his children had of growing up with a parent who was constantly in the spotlight.

“It’s tough being the son or daughter of a celebrity,” he told The Irish Independent in 2000. “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.”

His daughters and granddaughter expressed deep affection for him after his passing.

“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,” they said. “We will miss him sorely, and are devastated by the loss.”