Copyright Us Weekly
Anne Heche’s family negotiated a “tentative agreement” over claims against the late actress’ estate over her fatal car crash, Us Weekly can exclusively report. On Monday, November 3, Heche’s son Homer Laffoon, who is the administrator of her estate, filed court docs asking for six months to wrap up everything. In his report, Laffoon’s lawyer wrote, “The relatively unusual circumstances of [Heche’s] passing (a vehicle crash into a home) and the resulting potential litigation required [Laffoon] to devote a substantial amount of time to evaluating claims and negotiating a potential settlement to move the administration forward.” The attorney added that Laffoon “has secured a tentative agreement that will need Court approval, once finalized. [Laffoon] is cautiously optimistic that the creditor claims can all be resolved without litigation.” Heche died on August 11, 2022, at the age of 53. (Laffoon was put in charge of managing the actress’ finances, collecting any money owed to her and handling any debt.) The I Know What You Did Last Summer star crashed her car into an L.A. home days before she was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The estate was hit with massive creditors’ claims over Heche’s crash. In the filing, Laffoon explained that the estate had three claims filed against it over the car crash. The claims were filed by the two homeowners and the individual who was renting the home. Each claim filed over the incident seeks $2 million. Another creditor claim was filed by Heche’s ex and actor Thomas Jane who claimed she owed him $157,000 on a loan he provided her in 2022. On top of the creditors’ claims, Heche’s son said he still needs to resolve a couple of other items. He said his late mom receives “various sources of income from entertainment royalties that, coupled with a lack of records, [have] created difficulty in marshalling the income into the estate.” Laffoon said he has submitted “the appropriate paperwork with SAG-AFTRA to take possession of royalty payments made to [Heche] or her business entities for her prior works in the entertainment industry.” Laffoon said the estate is “insolvent” and he only found modest assets left behind by his late mom. He submitted two separate financial reports that revealed around $200,000 in assets. He said the entertainer owned 100 percent in a company called Celestia Films (with an estimated worth of $50,000), an interest in her podcast company with her friend Heather Duffy, $25,000 in furniture, $10,000 in residuals, $1,500 in book royalties, an uncashed check for $25,000 and $76,000 in a bank account. Laffoon and his half-brother, Atlas Tupper, are the only two beneficiaries of the estate. Tupper’s dad, James Tupper, initially opposed Laffoon taking over as administrator of Heche’s estate. Heche’s ex claimed the actress sent him an email that appointed him as administrator. Laffoon objected to the email being enforceable. The judge ended up siding with Laffoon and giving him control of Heche’s estate. As Us previously reported, in the official report on Heche’s death, the cause of death was listed as inhalation and thermal injuries. TMZ reported she was under the influence of cocaine at the time but officials do not believe it caused impairment at the time of the crash.
