Two weeks after the tragic deaths of Hollywood legend Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, details of their wills have emerged, shedding light on the fate of Hackman’s estimated $80 million estate.
According to reports, Hackman, who had been battling Alzheimer’s disease, had not updated his will since June 2005. His will designated Arakawa as the primary beneficiary and successor trustee. However, with Arakawa’s passing preceding Hackman’s by one week, legal experts suggest that his wealth will likely be inherited by his three children from his previous marriage to the late Faye Maltese—Christopher, 65, Leslie, 58, and Elizabeth, 62.
While the legal document does not explicitly confirm their inclusion as beneficiaries, reports indicate that Christopher has hired a high-powered attorney, potentially setting the stage for a legal dispute over the inheritance.
Betsy Arakawa, a classical pianist, had no children of her own. Her assets were allocated to a trust, primarily designated to cover medical debts before being distributed among various charities. Her will also contained a provision stipulating that if she and Hackman died within 90 days of each other, their deaths would be legally considered simultaneous. This clause ultimately redirected the distribution of her estate.
Attorney Julia Peters has been appointed as the executor of both Hackman’s and Arakawa’s wills. Additionally, she has taken legal steps to prevent the public release of autopsy and investigative reports, including photographs and police body-camera footage from the scene of their deaths.
Hackman, 95, passed away on February 18 due to heart disease, with Alzheimer’s listed as a contributing factor. Authorities believe he lived unknowingly with Arakawa’s deceased body for nearly a week due to his condition. Arakawa, 65, succumbed to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare disease contracted through rodent droppings. She was found in a state of mummification in the couple’s Santa Fe home.
The couple, who maintained a private life together for over three decades, were last seen in public in March 2024. Friends described Arakawa as fiercely protective of Hackman, with one noting that he “would have died long ago” without her care.
Credit: TMZ/Page Six
