When actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found deceased in their Santa Fe home in February 2025, questions quickly arose concerning their estate plans and, in particular, the significance of which spouse died first.

PEOPLE Magazine contacted David A. Esquibias, founder of Westlake Law Group and a California Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, to discuss the estate-planning issues raised by the couple's deaths.

Esquibias was not involved in the Hackman estate and did not represent any member of the Hackman family. His comments to PEOPLE addressed the estate-planning principles illustrated by the publicly available documents.

Read the PEOPLE article: “Who Inherits Gene Hackman and Wife Betsy's Estate? Why It Matters Who Died First, According to a Legal Expert.”

Why the Order of Death Can Matter

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa had executed pour-over wills. A pour-over will is commonly used as part of a revocable living trust estate plan. Rather than attempting to dispose of all of a person's property through the will itself, the will generally directs assets remaining in the deceased person's individual name into the trust following death.

As Esquibias explained to PEOPLE, the available documents indicated that both spouses had structured their estate plans around the Gene Hackman Living Trust.

That made the order in which the spouses died potentially significant.

Authorities ultimately determined that Betsy died approximately one week before Gene. As a result, the estate-planning documents had to be analyzed based upon Betsy having predeceased her husband rather than the other way around.

This illustrates an issue that is easy to overlook when a married couple prepares an estate plan: the ultimate disposition of property may depend not only upon what the documents say, but also upon the sequence and timing of the spouses' deaths.

A Will Does Not Necessarily Tell the Whole Story

The Hackman matter also illustrates an important distinction between a will and a living trust.

Wills filed in a probate proceeding generally become available as part of the court record. A revocable living trust, however, does not ordinarily become a public document simply because the person who created it has died.

Accordingly, the fact that Gene Hackman's will became publicly available did not necessarily answer the question receiving the most attention: Who would ultimately inherit his estate?

The answer depended substantially upon the terms of his trust, and those terms had not been made public when PEOPLE interviewed Esquibias.

This is one of the reasons speculation about a person's estate based solely upon a publicly filed will can be misleading. In a properly coordinated trust-based estate plan, the will may be only one component of a much larger plan.

What Is a Pour-Over Will?

A pour-over will is designed to work together with a trust.

For example, a person may create a revocable living trust and transfer a residence, investment accounts, and other assets into the trust during life. If an asset remains outside the trust at death, the pour-over will can direct that asset to the trust, subject to the applicable probate process.

The trust then determines how trust property is administered and ultimately distributed.

This structure is extremely common in modern estate planning. But simply signing a trust and a pour-over will is not enough. The documents must be coordinated, appropriate assets should be properly titled or transferred, beneficiary designations should be reviewed, and successor trustees should be selected.

Married Couples Should Plan for Deaths Occurring Close Together

Most married couples naturally assume that one spouse will die and the surviving spouse will then have substantial time to administer the estate and make future planning decisions.

That does not always happen.

Spouses may die in the same accident or within days, weeks, or months of one another. A comprehensive estate plan should anticipate that possibility.

Among other things, an estate plan should clearly address what happens if one spouse survives the other only briefly, who serves if the designated spouse cannot act as trustee or executor, and where property ultimately passes when neither spouse survives for an extended period.

The Hackman estate attracted national attention because of the individuals involved. The underlying planning issues, however, can arise in any family.

The Importance of Reviewing an Estate Plan

Estate plans should not simply be signed and placed in a drawer indefinitely.

Marriage, divorce, the death of a beneficiary or trustee, the birth of children or grandchildren, substantial changes in wealth, the acquisition or sale of real estate, and changes in family relationships can all affect whether an existing estate plan still accomplishes its intended purpose.

Even when the documents themselves remain legally effective, the way assets are titled may change dramatically over time.

A periodic review can help determine whether the trust, wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, beneficiary designations, and ownership of major assets continue to work together as intended.

Estate Planning and Trust Administration in Southern California

Westlake Law Group advises individuals and families regarding estate planning, revocable living trusts, trust administration, probate, and trust and estate disputes throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.

David A. Esquibias has practiced law in California since 1994 and is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

To discuss establishing, reviewing, or administering an estate plan, contact Westlake Law Group to schedule a consultation.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Westlake Law Group and David A. Esquibias did not represent Gene Hackman, Betsy Arakawa, their estates, or their families.

https://people.com/who-inherits-gene-hackman-estate-legal-expert-exclusive-11698283