Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines September 28
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Anne Heche's son, Homer Laffoon, filed court documents in Los Angeles claiming her ex partner, James Tupper, has made "personal attacks" ahead of an initial court hearing at which Laffoon will seek to establish himself executor of her estate.
Heche died Aug. 11 of "inhalation and thermal injuries" following a car collision in Mar Vista, California, the week before. Her manner of death was listed as an accident in a report released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Shortly after her death, Homer, her 20-year-old son from her marriage with Coley Laffoon, petitioned to be named administrator of her estate, which still has an unknown value and will need to undergo forensic accounting to establish its worth.
In the new objection documents, Homer, defined as the "petitioner," attempted to meet with Tupper prior to the upcoming Oct. 11 hearing "in order to avoid what can be best characterized as unfounded personal attacks on Petitioner and frivolous legal claims."
Homer Laffoon filed new court documents against Anne Heche's ex-husband, James Tupper, ahead of the Oct. 11 hearing to establish executor of her estate. (Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to representatives for Laffoon and Tupper for comment.
Laffoon claims multiple attempts were made to confirm with Tupper, who Anne dated for 11 years, if there were any objections to his petition for letters of special administration filings, which needed "immediate attention" following Heche's sudden death. Laffoon was appointed petitioner, which expires on the hearing date.
"Despite multiple requests, Mr. Tupper and his legal counsel were not willing to disclose or discuss the basis for Mr. Tupper’s objections," the documents said.
ANNE HECHE MEMOIR ‘CALL ME ANNE’ GETS JANUARY RELEASE, LATE ACTRESS DEDICATES BOOK 'TO HER CHILDREN'
Tupper, who also has a 13-year-old son Atlas with Heche, claims an email sent by Heche in 2011 is her "will." Hweverm, the document states "the email does not qualify as either a holographic will or formal witnessed will.
"The email presented to the Court as Decedent’s ‘will’ by Mr. Tupper fails to meet the requirements for a valid holographic will because the signature and material provisions are not in the handwriting of the Decedent."
James Tupper and Anne Heche dated for 11 years after meeting on "Men in Trees." They have one son, Atlas. (Todd Williamson)
Anne Heche and Coleman Laffoon at the "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" premiere in 2003. The former couple have one son together. (Jon Kopaloff)
Probate codes require two formal witnesses to sign or acknowledge the will. "Here, the email is unsigned and has no subscribing witnesses," the document said. "As such, the email does not qualify as a formal witnessed will."
The legal form went on to suggest "it was not uncommon" for Heche to send emails when "she was faced with uncertainty," and detailed a similar event when she was diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020.
"This document, which fails to qualify as a will on the same basis as the email attached to the Objection, makes no reference whatsoever to Mr. Tupper, which is not surprising given their acrimonious breakup in 2018," the document stated.
ANNE HECHE'S SON PAYS TRIBUTE AFTER MOTHER'S DEATH: HOPEFULLY MY MOM IS FREE FROM PAIN'
Laffoon disputed Tupper's claim that he had no contact with his half-brother prior to his mother's death.
"Petitioner has done his best under the circumstances to maintain contact with his brother since the death of their mother but, as the custodial parent of Atlas, Mr. Tupper’s aggressive and manipulative actions toward Petitioner have made it difficult for Petitioner to interact with Atlas regularly," the papers said.
Homer Laffoon, left, is battling against James Tupper for control of Anne Heche's estate. (Amanda Edwards)
"If necessary, several disinterested parties can testify to Mr. Tupper becoming irrationally aggressive and threatening since the Decedent’s accident and the institution of the probate proceedings (which should not have been viewed as an adversarial filing). Additionally, it is evident to Petitioner that Mr. Tupper is reviewing Atlas’ text messages and responding to Petitioner under the guise of being Atlas.
"These actions and tactics on the part of Mr. Tupper make it exceptionally difficult for Petitioner to maintain a close and private relationship with his brother."
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As a "gesture of good faith, and in the spirit of compromise" Homer is willing to "post bond in the amount of $20,000 and deposit all liquid assets of the Estate in blocked accounts, subject to withdrawal only."
Heche was taken off life support Aug. 14 after being declared brain-dead following a car collision the week before.
She suffered a "severe anoxic brain injury" and remained "in a coma" under medical care at the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills for the opportunity to donate her organs through the OneLegacy Foundation.
Anne Heche, pictured in 2015, was removed from life support Aug. 14, 2022. (Jeff Kravitz)
"It has long been her choice to donate her organs, and she's being kept on life support to determine if any are viable," her representative, Holly Baird, confirmed to Fox News Digital at the time.
"I loved her and I miss her and I’m always going to," ex-husband Coley Laffoon said in a video posted to Instagram. The former couple was married from 2001 to 2009. "Homer is OK. He’s grieving, of course. It’s rough, it’s really rough as probably anybody can imagine. But he’s surrounded by family, and he’s strong and he’s going to be OK.
"Anne is probably – I’d like to think she is free from pain and enjoying or experiencing whatever’s next in her journey," Laffoon added. "She came in hot, and she had a lot to say."
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She was cremated, and her ashes will be placed in a mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
"Call Me Anne" is scheduled to be released Jan. 24 and will include personal anecdotes from Heche's life. (Start Publishing)
In a statement to The Associated Press, Homer said he and his brother, Atlas, "are convinced our mom would love the site we have chosen for her; it's beautiful, serene and she will be among her Hollywood peers."
Heche found small-screen success on soap operas in the 1980s and portrayed twins on "Another World," which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award and two Soap Opera Digest Awards.
She rose to fame on the silver screen in the late ‘90s for her starring roles alongside Johnny Depp in "Donnie Brasco," with Harrison Ford in "Six Days, Seven Nights" and in Gus Van Sant’s remake of "Psycho."
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