Gene Hackman’s will excludes children and leaves $ 80 million in the fortune for the late wife

The will of the legendary actor Gene Hackman has been launched, but uncertainty persists in his fortune of $ 80 million (£ 62 million).

The two -time academy award winner left his property to his wife, Betsy Arakawa. The couple was found dead at their home in New Mexico in February.

Although Hackman’s three children were not appointed in their will, they can still claim their assets under state laws.

But they would have to demonstrate that the will is not valid because Arakawa died a week before Hackman, a legal expert to the BBC said. His children have not publicly commented on the will.

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Legal documents obtained by the BBC Show Hackman, 95, called Arakawa, 65, as its only beneficiary in 1995, with the last testament update in 2005.

The authorities say that Arakawa died February 11 after contracting a weird virusSeven days before Hackman died of natural causes.

The couple, married for more than 30 years, was found dead in rooms separated from their Santa Fe house of $ 4 million on February 26 after neighborhood security made a social assistance check and saw their bodies on the ground through a window.

Arakawa was found in the bathroom with scattered pills nearby, while Hackman was in the back of the house, with tracksuit and sneakers, his cane and sunglasses next to him.

The authorities determined that he died seven days after his wife due to severe heart disease, with the advanced Alzheimer’s list as a contributing factor.

Initially, the authorities considered the “suspicious” scene, but then ruled out a dirty game.

Hackman shared three children with his late ex -wife, Faye Maltés: Christopher, 65; Elizabeth, 62; and Leslie, 58.

California’s lawyer, Tre Lovell, told the BBC that Hackman’s children could challenge the will.

He said that unless an alternative beneficiary is appointed in his trust, the heritage could breach their children under the laws of succession.

“The heritage will be tested in accordance with the laws of intestate succession and the children would legally be the next one in the row to inherit,” he said.

Mr. Lovell added that if Hackman’s children challenge the will, they would have to prove that it is not valid because Arakawa died before him.

Arakawa’s own left his assets to Hackman, with a willingness that if they died within 90 days, his assets would go to a trust and then would be donated to charity after covering medical expenses.

Hackman has discussed his relationship with his children in the past.

“You become very selfish as an actor,” he told New York Times in 1989. “Although I had a family, I took jobs that would separate us for three or four months at the same time. The temptations in that, money and recognition, it was too much for the poor child in me.”

The children of Hackman, although rarely in the public eye, occasionally attended red carpet events with him.

In another interview, Hackman talked about the difficulty of his children to grow with a father who was constantly in the center of attention.

“It is difficult to be the son or daughter of a celebrity,” he told Irish Independent in 2000. “He could not always be at home with them when they grew up, and then, living in California, they have always had my success hanging on their heads.”

His daughters and granddaughter expressed a deep affection for him after his death.

“He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant career as an actor, but for us, he was always just dad and grandfather,” they said. “We will miss it a lot and we are devastated by the loss.”