Anne Heche has a 13-year-old son Atlas Tupper with actor James Tupper (pic), with whom she dated for over a decade before they split in 2018. Photo: AP
A legal battle is brewing over who should have control over American actress Anne Heche’s estate a month after her death.
Heche, 53, has a 20-year-old son Homer Laffoon with former cameraman Coleman Laffoon, with whom she was married to between 2001 and 2009.
She has a 13-year-old son Atlas Tupper with actor James Tupper, with whom she dated for over a decade before they split in 2018.
According to the American media, Homer filed a court petition in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Aug 31 asking to be named the executor of her estate as he claimed she did not leave behind a will. The petition listed both Homer and Atlas as the heirs to the estate.
However, Tupper, 57, objected to this development and filed court documents last Thursday (Sept 15).
The actor, who met Heche on the set of television series Men In Trees (2006 to 2008), claimed that she named him as executor of her estate in a will emailed to him and two other persons in 2011.
“My wishes are that all of my assets go to the control of Mr James Tupper to be used to raise my children and then given to the children,” according to the will allegedly emailed by Heche and quoted in several American media outlets.
“They will be divided equally among our children, currently Homer Heche Laffoon and Atlas Heche-Tupper, and their portion given to each when they are the age of 25. When the last child turns 25 any house or other properties owned may be sold and the money divided equally among our children.”
Tupper claimed further in the documents that Homer is not suitable to be the executor of the estate as Homer is only 20 years old, unemployed and estranged from Heche.
Tupper further accused Homer of changing the locks of the home of Heche and Atlas on the day of her death and barring Atlas from entry since then.
Tupper was also concerned about the claims that Heche’s home was “vacant”.
“Her home was full of her furnishings, jewellery, valuables, files and records, and their removal was in no way authorised by this Court or the law,” according to the documents filed by Tupper.
Heche was taken off life support in August after she was declared legally dead from brain injuries suffered in a car crash in Los Angeles on Aug 5.
She starred in a number of movies from the late 1990s, including Donnie Brasco (1997), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998) and Psycho (1998).
She was in a high-profile relationship with talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres between 1997 and 2000. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
