James Tuppermay have no legal ground in asking to be the guardian ad litem of his biological son,Atlas Heche Tupper, according to a legal expert.
Family law expert,Atousa Saei, explained to PEOPLE whyAnne Heche’s son and Atlas' half-brother,Homer Laffoon, may have the upper hand in litigation regarding Heche’s estate.
“I really think that Tupper is just going to be kind of faded out of this whole situation,” Saei told PEOPLE. “I think he’s the father of a minor who stands to inherit from his mother, and I think that’s really going to be the extent of his involvement here. I don’t think that the court’s going to find that he’s a valid — that he’s the executor of it, of the estate.”
She added, “I also don’t think the court is likely to award him as the [guardian ad litem] here. Because remember, if the court does need to appoint someone as the GAL, the court can just appoint a neutral. It doesn’t have to be him.”
Anne Heche and James Tupper.David Buchan/BAFTA LA/Getty
Saei compared this toBritney Spears’former conservatorship. “Sometimes, as we saw in the Britney Spears case, the guardian ad litem in representing the best interest of the incapacitated party might report back to the court things that are completely, completely different than what that incapacitated party wants,” she said.
Anne Heche Homer Laffoon James Tupper.getty (2); Anne Heche/Instagram
On Monday, Tupper filed paperwork asking that Laffoon (whom Heche shared with ex-husbandColeman Laffoon) be removed as the temporary executor of Heche’s estate.
Anne Heche and homer Laffoon.Rachel Murray/Getty
“[Laffoon] raises up something interesting where he said, ‘Had they been married, during the divorce process, that would’ve been handled, but because they weren’t married, it’s like an oversight on her end where she just failed to change the beneficiaries of some of her accounts,'” Saei added. “So now he’s got the money and they pointed to that as a direct conflict of interest in being appointed a guardian ad litem because they were saying that the estate may actually have to go sue him.”
In Saei’s professional opinion, this will is not valid. “I think it fails in more than one area,” she said. “It’s not just that it’s electronic, but it’s also because you don’t have a valid signature, you don’t have witnesses and so forth.”
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Heche died after beinginvolved in a fiery car accidentin Los Angeles on Aug. 5. After being in a coma, the state of Californiadeclared Heche legally deadon Aug. 12. She was temporarily kept on life support in order to donate her organs. On Aug. 14, her rep confirmed to PEOPLE she had beentaken off of life support.
source: people.com
