Gene Hackman’s children not named as successors in $80 million will, but could claim estate

The succession of the considerable estate of Gene Hackman is now in question after the discovery that his three adult children are not named as beneficiaries to his estate in his will.

The two-time Oscar winner, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa Hackman, 65, were discovered dead by authorities at their home in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly show that Hackman named Arakawa Hackman as the sole beneficiary of his estate, personal representative of his estate, and Successor Trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust.

While Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58, are identified as Hackman’s children in the will, the actor appointed Arakawa Hackman as the sole successor to his trust and estate. But recent findings that indicate Arakawa Hackman died several days before her husband throw open the question of who will inherit the estate.

Hackman had his three children with wife Fay Maltese, whom he married in 1956. The couple divorced in 1986, and Hackman married Arakawa, a Santa Fe-based furniture seller and pianist, in 1991.

Per recent court filings obtained by EW, Hackman appointed the remainder of their so-called GeBe Revocable Trust to Arakawa Hackman in 1995 by naming her the Successor Trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust. The will, dated June 7, 2005, notes unambiguously, “I give my entire estate to Betsy Arakawa Hackman.”

Hackman appointed his former attorney, Michael G. Sutin, as the successor for personal representative in line should Arakawa Hackman die. Sutin died in 2019, so with Arakawa Hackman’s death before Hackman’s, his representation passed to his next successor, attorney Julia L. Peters, according to a copy of an application for informal probate of will and appointment of personal representative filed on March 6, which was also obtained by EW.

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Dr. Heather Jarrell, New Mexico’s chief medical investigator, revealed during a March 7 press conference that Hackman died from heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributory factor, and Arakawa died several days before due to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a disease often contracted from exposure to mouse droppings that affects the lungs.

A copy of Arakawa Hackman’s will obtained by EW notes that Arakawa Hackman had no children or lineal descendants. She appointed Hackman the personal representative of her estate, with Sutin and Peters following as successors.

Arakawa Hackman’s will, signed the same day as Hackman’s, directs her estate in the event of her death to the Gene Hackman Living Trust. Should Hackman not survive Arakawa by a period of 90 days from the date of her death, the estate is directed to be administered to “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.”

Peters’ court filings from earlier this month name Christopher, Elizabeth, and Leslie as Hackman’s heirs. With Arakawa having passed as well, they could attempt to lay claim to Hackman’s estate as his most direct living heirs.

Elizabeth and Leslie stated that they “will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss” in a February interview with The Daily Mail. Leslie additionally noted, ‘We were close. I hadn’t talked to them for a couple months, but everything was normal and everything was good.”

In a 2000 interview with Irish Independent, Hackman admitted that “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.” But his daughters indicated that he had been a stronger presence in their lives in recent years.