Gene Hackman’s will, along with that of his wife Betsy, has been revealed over two weeks after their tragic deaths on February 26. According to People magazine, Hackman’s will names Betsy as the personal representative of his estate, as well as the sole beneficiary. The will, which was written in June 2005, references a trust agreement made in September 1995 and was submitted to the Santa Fe County court on March 6.
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Who will inherit Hackman’s estate?
According to Hackman’s will, in the case of Betsy’s death, he named attorney Michael G. Sutin as the first successor for the role of personal representative of his estate. However, Sutin, a Santa Fe-based attorney, passed away in 2019, as confirmed by an online obituary, which stated he died in Texas.
After his death, the actor named Julia L. Peters as his second successor for the role of personal representative of his estate. She works as a chief counsel at Avalon Trust Co. which is an investment firm based in Santa Fe. According to the firm’s official website, Peters’ biography describes her as a former managing partner of the Sutin, Thayer & Browne law firm.
In addition to naming Betsy as the recipient of his estate, Hackman appointed her as the successor trustee of his GeBe Revocable Trust, as outlined in a September 1995 agreement. Court documents filed alongside his will identify his three adult children—Christopher, 65, Elizabeth, 62, and Leslie, 58, from his first marriage to Faye Maltese—as his heirs. The court has since granted an informal appointment to Peters as the personal representative of Gene’s estate moving forward, as reported by People magazine.
Betsy’s will revealed
Betsy’s will was filed alongside Hackman’s in 2005. Her will states that expenses of her death, funeral and administration of her estate will be paid out of her estate. Moreover, it also details that there might be a separate statement or list made by Betsy which would describe who would inherit what of her personal property.
In the event of Hackman’s death, the remaining of her estate will go to her personal representative to hold in a charitable trust, as she wrote, “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.”
Betsy had appointed her husband as her personal representative of her estate with Sutin as the first alternate and Peters as her second alternate.
