Anne Heche Estate Battle: Heche’s Son Files New Court Documents Against James Tupper to Protect Estate

Anne Heche‘s son, Homer Laffoon, is fighting James Tupper in court to be established as executor of her estate.

The Mar Vista car accident that occurred the week before August 11th resulted in Heche’s death by inhalation and thermal injuries, as stated in a report released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. The manner of death was ruled an accident.

Homer, her 20-year-old son from her marriage with Coley Laffoon, filed papers to be named administrator of her estate, which still has an unknown value and will need to go through forensic accounting to establish its worth.

In the new objection paperwork, Homer, known as the “petitioner,” attempted to schedule a meeting with Tupper before the Oct. 11 hearing “in order to avoid what can be best characterized as unfounded personal attacks on Petitioner and frivolous legal claims.”

Before the Oct. 11 hearing to establish an executor of Anne Heche’s estate, Homer Laffoon filed new court documents against her ex-husband James Tupper.

Following Heche’s death, attorneys for Tupper contacted the former couple to inquire whether they had any objections to his petition for letters of special administration filings. The attorney was appointed petitioner, which will expire 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.

In her book, Tupper claims that a 2011 email sent by Heche is her “will.” and she’s been working on it since then. The document, however, states that the email does not fulfill the requirements of a holographic will or a 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 met on “Men in Trees.” and dated for 11 years before breaking up. They have one son, Atlas.

The probate codes state that two formal witnesses are needed to sign or acknowledge the will. The document goes on to say that “Here, the email is unsigned and has no subscribing witnesses,” invalidating it as a witnessed will.

The legal form also claimed that it was not unusual for Heche to send emails when she was confronted with uncertainty, and described a similar occurrence 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.

Laffoon disputed Tupper’s statement that he had no contact with his half-brother before 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) and James Tupper are in a heated legal battle for control of Anne Heche’s estate.

“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.”

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.