According to Gene Hackman’s recently released will, the Oscar-winning actor left his entire $80 million fortune to his wife of 30 years, Betsy Arakawa.
Betsy Arakawa, 65, was found dead alongside her husband in their New Mexico home last month.
Legal experts have now said that, because authorities say Betsy Arakawa died seven days before her husband, the actor’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.
Gene Hackman, 95, named Betsy Arakawa as his sole beneficiary in 1995, with the last update to the will in 2005.
The estate could default to Gene Hackman’s children under succession laws, as long as there was no other beneficiary named.
They would also need to prove that the will is invalid because Betsy Arakawa died before Gene Hackman.
Authorities say Betsy Arakawa passed away on February 11 after contracting a rare virus, days before Gene Hackman died of natural causes.
The couple was found dead in separate rooms of their $4m Santa Fe home on February 26 after neighbourhood security conducted a welfare check and saw their bodies on the ground through a window.
Betsy Arakawa was found in the bathroom with pills scattered nearby, while Gene 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.
Betsy Arakawa’s own will left her assets to Gene 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.