(The U.S. Sun) - Speaking exclusively with The U.S. Sun, legal expert and powerhouse attorney Goldie Schon delved into legendary Heist star Hackman's estate and explained exactly why his adult children, Christopher, Leslie and Elizabeth are likely poised to get most, if not all, of the actor's fortune, despite his also deceased younger wife leaving everything to charity.
"For unforeseen reasons, these two people passed similarly in time, but oddly enough, she passed before him, and as a result, we have a situation where now, even though his desires were for his estate to go to her in its entirety without even providing it to his adult children, Betsy did pass before him," Schon said.
"And what does that do? Now we're in a situation where his will and trust says that everything goes to her, but she died first.
"But now what it is, is actually fairly simple. It's going to be a fight, of course, but it's simple because it's as if Gene Hackman passed without a will."
As the legal eagle explained, the actor's estate goes into what is called intestate - it's as if he had no will at all.
"Let's just simplify it. It is as if he did not say who's it going to go to, and when that happens, we have other rules in place that tell us who it's going to go to, and the first people that it goes to are your next of kin which would be his children."
Schon said she was not surprised to learn that Hackman's son had recently found an attorney to represent him in the fight over his father's estate.
"It is not odd or strange that one of his children, or all three of his children, for that matter, will find an attorney and counsel to obtain a portion of his estate.
"Because, quite frankly, that's the way it should be if there was nothing between the children and Gene Hackman."
The expert added that since there wasn't anything in the French Connection star's will that expressly cut out his children, there is even more of an argument that they should inherit his estate.
"Gene Hackman wasn't intentionally saying in his will or trust, 'I do not want my children to get any of my estate.'
"If that was said, we would be in a different situation, but that was not said.
"This is just a man who had been with his wife for decades and loved his wife and understood that his wife was younger than him, and wanted to give his estate to her, to allow her to live her life in however she deemed appropriate."
Gene's passing was attributed to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer's disease listed as a significant contributing factor.
Betsy’s death, on the other hand, was caused by a respiratory illness associated with hantavirus, a rare infection spread by rodents.
The bodies of the Hackmans were not discovered until February 26, when a neighbor’s caretaker dialed 911 after finding them unresponsive.
Authorities revealed that Arakawa had died about a week prior to her husband.
By Jessica Finn Senior Investigations & Exclusives Reporter
March 26, 2025
