Anne Heche’s estate cannot pay its debts: The actress had $110,000 and is being sued for $4 million
The Hollywood star died in 2022 after crashing her car into a Los Angeles home. Both the tenant and the resident of that house are demanding $2 million in compensation
In August 2022, a very serious car accident ended the life of actress Anne Heche. A week after crashing her car into a Los Angeles house and suffering severe brain injuries that put her in a coma, her family announced that she was brain-dead and would not survive. According to her wishes, they decided to donate her organs. Heche was 53 years old. Following her death, a battle broke out that has been going on for 20 months and that, as in so many sad stories, is over money. While Heche starred in both cult movies such as Donnie Brasco and Gus Van Sant’s Psycho, and blockbusters (Six Days, Seven Nights, Volcano) she does not have enough money to pay her debts.
Heche was survived by two children. The oldest, Homer Heche Laffoon, is 22 years old and was born during her marriage to cameraman Coley Laffoon (they were married between 2001 and 2009); while the youngest, Atlas Heche Tupper, is the son of actor James Tupper (who Heche dated intermittently after her divorce until 2018) and is only 15 years old. So it has been up to the eldest to take charge of everything related to the estate of the actress, who did not leave a written will.
Apparently, before Heche died, she wrote an email appointing Laffoon as the administrator of her estate. What’s more, he himself asked to be in charge just a few weeks after the actress’s death. Now, the young man has said that it is impossible for him to settle his mother’s outstanding debts. He claims that the actress only had about $110,000, a sum that includes her assets, bank accounts and royalty payments. However, Heche’s heirs are being sued for more than €4 million over the crash that caused her death.
Laffoon told ET Online that Heche’s estate consists of five parts: “a modest bank account;” royalty payments and other residual income (the money that actors receive from the ongoing use of their work); a corporation owned by Heche to manage her career; an LLC membership interest related to a podcast her company helped to create; and her personal property items.
Some of those assets “are being appraised,” according to Laffoon, but they will not be enough to cover the debt. For this reason, the actress’s personal belongings may be put up for auction. Although Heche’s posthumous memoir, titled Call Me Anne, was released in January 2023, it has not been a great success either, and it is not expected to make more than $25,000. “Based on the anticipated value of the combined Inventories and Appraisals and the filed creditor claims,” the report presented by Laffoon states, “the estate is insolvent.”
The young man said he is “actively engaged in attempts to negotiate appropriate settlements of the claims” and “has engaged in substantial meet and confer efforts with the creditors in an attempt to avoid protracted and expensive litigation against the estate.” According to the report, Laffoon is also “cautiously optimistic that the creditor claims can all be resolved fairly and without litigation.”
Heche crashed into a home in Mar Vista, a wealthy neighborhood near the Pacific Ocean, and was stuck in her car for 45 minutes while the vehicle, as well as part of the house, was on fire. The actress died from smoke inhalation and burns. Twenty months after the crash that nearly destroyed the home, the house has been completely renovated. It has a raised porch, three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The owners have decided to put it up for sale. It first went on sale in February for $1.49 million, according to TMZ, but since then, the price has been dropped to $1.35 million.
The resident of the Los Angeles home, Lynne Mishele, sued the Heche estate in November 2022. She claimed she lost most of her possessions in the fire and was almost killed as well. She sought $2 million in damages for her losses and the trauma she suffered as a result of the crash.
The owners of the property also sued the Heche estate for $2 million. While the actress’s ex-boyfriend, Thomas Jane, also filed a lawsuit stating that he loaned the actress $157,000 that she was going to return in monthly payments of $10,000. According to Jane, she only made two payments. He has sued the estate for $150,000, which includes interest on the loan. And if that weren’t enough, Heche also has $36,000 in outstanding credit card debt.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
