The actor, who is the father of Heche's 13-year-old son, Atlas, claims that the actress made her wishes clear in an email from 2011.
Anne Heche's family is at odds over the execution of her estate after the actress died without a will. In a new legal filing obtained by ET, James Tupper -- Anne's ex and the father of her 13-year-old son, Atlas Heche Tupper -- objects to a request from Anne's eldest son, 20-year-old Homer Heche Laffoon -- whom Anne shared with her ex-husband Coley Laffoon -- to be placed in charge of her estate.
James asks the court instead to appoint a neutral third party private professional fiduciary or, alternately, himself as executor of her estate.
In the new docs, filed Thursday in Los Angeles, James claims that Anne made her intentions clear in a personal email on Jan. 25, 2011, with the subject line "WILL," saying that: "In case I die tomorrow and anyone asks. My wishes are that all of my assets go to the control of Mr. James Tupper to be used to raise my children and then given to the children. They will be divided equally among our children, currently Homer Heche Laffoon and Atlas Heche Tupper, and their portion given to each when they are the age of 25."
Anne and James dated for more than a decade before they split in 2018. They met in 2006 when they co-starred in Men in Trees.
While the former couple was not married nor romantically involved at the time of Anne's death, James says that he has standing to object to Homer's request as the parent of minor estate heir, Atlas.
James argues that there is "no urgent need to appoint a special administrator at this time" and that Homer is "not suitable for appointment" due to his age and that he is presently unemployed. James also alleges that Homer and his mother were estranged at the time of her death, "due to his dropping out of university studies and not working to support himself."
James goes on to accuse Homer of changing the locks on the apartment that Anne shared with Atlas, refusing to allow him to regain access to the residence to collect his personal belongings following his mother's death. James also claims that Homer has not returned correspondence from his younger brother, and was a no-show after allegedly agreeing to attend grief counseling together and meet James and Atlas at a restaurant.
"It concerns objector that in light of this behavior, Homer will not act in his brother's best interest," the doc states. "Objector Tupper helped raise these boys from a very early age, and cares deeply for their well-being. It is his desire that they achieve a fair and good result from these proceedings, which is his sole purpose in filing these objections."
Homer first filed his respective court docs in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, asking to be made the administrator of his late mom's estate.
The docs listed Anne's annual gross income, personal property and value of property as unknown, and note that the late actress did not have a will.
In addition to control of the estate, Homer requested to be made guardian ad litem over Atlas. Because Atlas is a minor, Homer asked that the court waive the bond.
In his response, James asserts that "the administrator role requires someone with more experience and sophistication, as the estate assets require management and collection by someone with the required expertise. Homer's lack of assets and income also means he will be unable to obtain a bond, and in fact his petition asks that no bond be posted, which is unacceptable to Objector."
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 11.
ET has reached out to lawyers for both James and Homer for comment.
Anne was declared brain dead, the definition of death according to California law, on Aug. 12, one week after she was involved in a fiery car crash in Los Angeles. She was 53.
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