The Anne Heche Estate Planning Disaster

I went looking for 2022 celebrity deaths ending up mired in the probate courts. I only found one. Anne Heche.

Shortly after her breakup with Ellen DeGeneres in 2000, Anne Heche started seeing Coleman Laffoon. Coleman and Heche married in September 2001, had a child named Homer Laffoon, separated in 2006, and divorced around 2007. Heche then started seeing James Tupper and eventually had another child
with Tupper somewhere around 2008/2009. Heche and Tupper were together for more than a decade
before they split. However, they never married.

Anne Heche was involved in a fiery car accident on August 5, 2022 and declared dead on August 12th. Homer Laffoon, now 20-year-old son of the Heche and Laffoon marriage, filed legal papers in California claiming his mother died without a will and requested he be put in charge of her estate. James Tupper has apparently objected filling a 2011 email which Tupper claims is Heche’s will putting him, Tupper, in charge of the Heche estate. Tupper apparently filed other objections questioning the 20-year-old’s ability to properly administer the estate and claiming Homer was estranged from his mother at the time of her death. Homer responded that the email failed to meet the requirements of a holographic will because the signature and material provisions are not in Heche’s handwriting and does not have two witnesses.

For several decades, Colorado law has been shifting away from strict formalities. Judges and juries can determine intent even when formalities are not followed. This is true in both real estate and probate law. For example, Colorado wills that do not strictly adhere to the execution formalities can be found valid if the proponent shows by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the document to be a will. However, Colorado still requires that the document be signed or acknowledged by the decedent. “Acknowledged” is a formal process often done by a Notary Public. Which leads to the next question in this post-covid, remote, digital world in which we live. What constitutes a signature?

Another problematic area is the 2011 email to a romantic partner not formally a spouse. Divorce law is designed to make presumptions once the divorce is final. One  presumptions is that you would not want your ex-spouse to inherit under your will or be in charge of your estate. In Colorado, had Heche and Tupper been married and then divorced after 2011, the 2011 email naming Tupper in charge of the estate or the beneficiary would not control. Since Heche and Tupper were not married, there is no presumption. We see this a lot not only in estate planning but also in property ownership. Without a marriage or some other writing setting forth rights, there is no leverage to unwind agreements and ownership. It gets expensive.

And expensive is what I imagine the Heche probate will be. Moral of the story? When there are multiple partners and kids from different relationships, do everyone a favor and get an estate plan.