A woman was found dead in her home in New Mexico last February, and authorities reported that Arakawa passed away seven days before her husband, Gene Hackman.
Hackman's three children were not named in his will, although they could be entitled to his estate according to state laws. According to reports, Hackman, 95 years old, named Arakawa, 65 years old, as his sole beneficiary in 1995, and the last update of the will was in 2005. Future heirs would have to prove that the will does not take effect because Arakawa died before Hackman.
Arakawa was found in the bathroom with pills around her, while Hackman was in another part of the house. The couple had been married for over 30 years and stipulated that if they died within 90 days of each other, their estate would go to a trust and then be donated to a charity after covering medical expenses.
In recent hours, the will of legendary actor Gene Hackman was made public, but uncertainty continues regarding his fortune valued at $80 million. The actor, a two-time Oscar winner, would have granted all his assets to his wife, Betsy Arakawa.
"The inheritance will be processed according to intestate succession laws, and the children would be legally next in line for succession," said the lawyer for the actor's children. Authorities confirmed that Arakawa died on February 11 after contracting a rare virus, days before Hackman died of natural causes following a serious heart illness, with advanced Alzheimer's as a contributing factor.
The security of the neighborhood they lived in performed a welfare check and saw their bodies on the floor through a window. The actor's children could access their father's fortune by contesting it. The actor had three children with his late ex-wife, Faye Maltese: Christopher, 65 years old; Elizabeth, 62 years old; and Leslie, 58 years old.
