Who Inherits Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy's Estate? Why It Matters Who Died First, According to a Legal Expert

03/18/2025 08:00 AM

Whether Gene Hackman or his wife Betsy died first affects their overall estate, according to a legal expert

• Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy signed their wills in June 2005, 20 years before they were both found dead in their home on Feb. 26
• A legal expert tells PEOPLE that whether Gene or Betsy died first impacts the couple's overall estate
• Further details behind Gene's trust have not been made public, though their wills came to light March 14
  

Who will inherit Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy's estate is impacted by who died first and more factors, a legal expert explains.

Trust and family law attorney David A. Esquibias, who is not affiliated with this matter, tells PEOPLE that because the Hackmans had what is described as a pour-over will, whether Gene or Betsy died first — the couple were both found dead in their home on Feb. 26 — affects how their overall 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 says. "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," Esquibas says.

Related: Gene Hackman Signed His Will 20 Years Ago, Making It 'Exponentially Harder' to Contest: Legal Expert

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Gene, who died at 95, and Betsy, who died at 65, named each other as the personal representatives of each others' estates when they signed their wills in June 2005. Betsy was also named the successor trustee of the Gene Hackman Living Trust, but given Gene and Betsy's deaths, Esquibias explains it is impossible to say who the beneficiaries of Gene's trust are because that information has not been made public.

Information regarding Gene's trust has still not been made public. For now, it's impossible to know whether Gene's three adult children — Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58, whom he had with first wife Faye Maltese — are included, Esquibias says.

Christopher reportedly hired trust and estate attorney Andrew M. Katzenstein. Esquibias says that hiring is "probably just routine, just, 'Hey, let's get some legal representation for some general advice.' " Katzenstein did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Related: Gene Hackman's Wife Made a Phone Call to a Doctor. The Discovery Is Changing Authorities' Timeline of Their Deaths

Julia L. Peters, chief counsel at Avalon Trust Co., a Santa Fe investment firm, has been appointed as the personal representative of both Gene and Betsy's estates moving forward. The remainder of Betsy's 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 Betsy wrote in her individual will. 

Additionally, Betsy's will states she may have made a statement or list separately from her will that indicates whom she would give her personal property to.

On March 7, authorities revealed that their investigation found that Betsy died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which is caused by hantavirus, one full week before Gene, and that he was most likely alone in their home with his dead wife for days. Hackman died from a combination of severe heart disease, high blood pressure and advanced Alzheimer's disease, authorities said.