Details of the late Hollywood legend Gene Hackman’s will – and his staggering fortune – have been revealed.
The two-time Oscar winning actor, 95, died of heart disease a week after his wife Betsy Arakawa died of a rare infectious disease at their home.
The couple’s bodies were not discovered until February 26 when maintenance and security workers showed up at the Santa Fe home and alerted police, with the mystery making headlines around the world.
Now, it has emerged that Hackman – who last signed his will in 2005 – left his whopping $80million fortune to his wife Betsy, who was the successor trustee to his trust.
Gene Hackman, wife Betsy, Leslie, and Elizabeth at the premiere The Chamber in 1996 (Getty Images)
It is uncertain whether Gene’s three children Christopher, Elizabeth and Leslie, who he shared with late ex-wife Faye Maltese, were left anything in the fortune.
Betsy’s will designates her assets to a trust, where her money will be donated to charity and used to pay her medical debts.
A legal expert told Daily Mail: “If he died first and she [Betsy] had survived, it would’ve been World War III.
“His kids would’ve probably gone crazy.”
Hackman was likely at home alone with the body of his wife for a week before he passed away himself, the sheriff of Santa Fe in New Mexico, US, told a press conference last week.
The post-mortem examination showed Ms Arakawa, also known as Betsy Hackman, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome – a rare but potentially fatal disease which spreads to humans through infected rodent droppings or saliva.
Hackman died a week later on February 18 of “hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributory factor”, the expert said.
It has been reported that attorney Julia Peters has been appointed as executor of both wills.
Peters is also seeking to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports related to Gene and Betsy’s deaths.
The petition especially sought to block the release of photographs and police body-camera video after the couple’s partially mummified bodies were discovered.
She urged a state district court in Santa Fe to seal records in the cases to protect the family’s right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution – emphasising the possible shocking nature of the photographs and video in the investigation.
Gene’s nephew Tim Hackman – whose father Richard was a stuntman for Gene – recently said that it was originally assumed that Betsy, who was 65, would plan the funeral due to their age gap.
He told the Daily Mail: “Now with this, it significantly changes things.
“I have no idea what – I’m assuming one of his kids will probably take over – and [plan]. I don’t know. It’s still very, very early.”
