Gene Hackman Left Fortune to Deceased Wife, Nothing for Kids | TMZ Live - video Dailymotion

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Gene Hackman's will has been unveiled -- and the two-time Oscar-winner left every penny of his fortune to his wife, Betsy Arakawa -- but there's a big twist.

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00:00Well, Gene Hackman's death, Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy, the circumstances of their

00:05death obviously so sad, but it is about to get pretty contentious because of the terms

00:15of Gene Hackman's will.

00:17And Betsy's will.

00:18And Betsy's will.

00:19But who gets his fortune?

00:23Because just to refresh, to remind everyone what the authorities said there in New Mexico

00:31is that Betsy died, they believe Betsy died first from Hantavirus, a respiratory disease,

00:39and that Gene some days later died and was walking around the house.

00:47We didn't know this, but that he had severe dementia that he was suffering.

00:51And heart issues.

00:52And heart issues.

00:53And he died.

00:54And died several days later.

00:56From all accounts, Betsy died first.

00:58This is highly relevant.

00:59So here's the deal.

01:01Gene's will leaves everything to his wife, Betsy.

01:07And he did not leave anything to his three children.

01:12It all goes to Betsy.

01:16Betsy's will is a little more complicated.

01:20Betsy leaves some of her stuff to her mom, who is still alive.

01:24But everything else goes to Gene.

01:28However, there is a provision in her will that says, and now look, without the provision,

01:35since Gene died first, all of his money.

01:39No, no, no.

01:40Betsy died first.

01:41Excuse me.

01:42Since Betsy died first.

01:43So you would think, then, with the exception of that stuff, all of her money would go to

01:49Gene.

01:50And then as Gene dies, all of that goes where?

01:55Because Gene did not leave anything else to anybody other than Betsy.

02:00But Betsy had a specific clause saying that if they died within 90 days of each other,

02:09it's as if they had a simultaneous death.

02:12And if they had a simultaneous death, all of her money would go to charity.

02:19So that means all of, oh boy, wow, wow.

02:23It's really like being back in law school.

02:25This is like a trusts and estates kind of question.

02:28The determination was that she pre-deceased him because of her hantavirus progressing

02:32to such a state that she died before him.

02:35We don't know the exact time period, but maybe a week.

02:38Gene's will is fascinating because he was worth maybe $80 million, according to reports.

02:42He has a two-page will that just leaves everything to Betsy, as you said, but doesn't specifically

02:47disinherit his children.

02:49And now his son has a lawyer and says he may challenge that will because there's no specific

02:54disinheritance.

02:55Obviously, Gene's money can't go to Betsy because she pre-deceased him.

02:58But you know, it could be like dying in a test state.

03:01Which means it goes to the three children that Gene excluded.

03:04It may not have been what Gene wanted, though, because Gene only left it to Betsy.

03:09But without the specific disinheritance, his kids, who he may not want the money left to,

03:12may end up getting it.

03:14What he could have done was to say, and if Betsy pre-deceases me, then my money goes

03:19to charity or whatever.

03:21But he didn't have that clause in.

03:23So because you don't know where it goes, it's called intestate succession.

03:29It means as if you died without a will.

03:31Then it goes to his immediate heirs.

03:33The immediate heirs are the three children he didn't mention in the will.

03:37But they'll end up getting his share.

03:39Hey, this is Patronela from Brooklyn.

03:42And you know, death is difficult under the best circumstances and fractured families,

03:45of course, make it worse.

03:47But I guess my question is, you're challenging it on the basis of what?

03:51At some point, we have to look at what the spirit of the will was rather than what the

03:55actual law is, right?

03:57No, you look at the actual law.

04:00In fact, in wills and wills, when you look at probate, it actually, what really matters

04:06is what the will says.

04:08And sometimes-

04:09Although in this case, what the will says may be the same as the spirit anyway.

04:14It's not.

04:15Because Gene's kids are getting the money from him that he never wanted to give.

04:20But I would say the spirit of Gene's document, you read it, is that he didn't want it to

04:24go to his kids.

04:25But it's gonna.

04:26But it's going to, unless-

04:29It's gonna.

04:30It's automatically gonna go to them.

04:31You gonna argue this one with me?

04:33No, not anymore.

Gene Hackman Left Fortune to Deceased Wife, Nothing for Kids | TMZ Live

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