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The tragic deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa remains a big talking point, with a legal expert recently weighing in on a matter that few likely considered.
Trust and family law attorney David A. Esquibias recently spoke with People about the onging legal situation related to their wills.
While not d with the matter he noted that because the couple had a pour-over will, whether Gene or Betsy died first will impact how their estate is amassed.
"It's very common that [Betsy's] pour-over will leaves everything to a trust. And in fact, her pour-over will leaves everything to the Gene Hackman [Living Trust] and his pour-over will leaves everything to her as trustee of the Gene Hackman [Living Trust]," Esquibas said.
"So it looks like both of them were contemplating at death to leave everything to the Gene Hackman [Living Trust].
"When you have a married couple though, the issue is who dies first, and in this case, Betsy died first, so she left everything to the Gene Hackman trust. He outlives her. So he theoretically inherits from Betsy into his trust, and then when he dies, his trust goes to whoever his trust beneficiaries are."
The couple were found dead on the same day
Gene and Betsy named each other as the personal representatives of each others' estates when they signed their wills in 2005.
Arakawa was also name the successor trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust, but after their deaths, Esquibias says it is impossible to say who the beneficiaries of Gene's trust are because that hasn't been made public.
Julia L. Peters, chief counsel at Avalon Trust Co., has been appointed the personal representative of both Gene and Betsy's estates moving forward.
The remainder of her estate is to go to her personal representative to hold in a charitable trust "to achieve purposes beneficial to the community, consistent with the charitable preferences and interests expressed or indicated by my spouse and me during our lifetimes" as per her will.