The late actress' son and her ex are in the midst of a court battle.
Homer Laffoon is refuting James Tupper's claims. In court docs obtained by ET, Anne Heche's son fought back against James' allegation that he and his late mom were estranged at the time of her death. Homer claims that, before filing the docs in court, his lawyers tried to discuss James' objections with his attorneys to no avail.
The drama started earlier this month, when the 20-year-old son of Anne and Coley Laffoon asked to be made the administrator of his late mom's estate, and said she did not have a will. James, who shares a 13-year-old son, Atlas, with Anne, objected to Homer's request in court docs he filed shortly thereafter.
James' court docs, which ET previously obtained, asked the court to appoint a neutral third party private professional fiduciary or, alternately, himself as executor of Anne's estate. James said in the docs that he was making the request because Homer is "not suitable for appointment" due to his age and that he is presently unemployed.
Homer's docs say that he is "not disqualified from serving as administrator of the Estate," noting that "requirements pertaining to employment history or status, educational background, or prior experience administering probate estates" are not grounds for disqualification.
Even so, Homer says he was employed and working at the time of Anne's death, though he did take time off after his mom died. He "has every intention of resuming normal studies in short order," according to the docs.
James also alleged that Homer was estranged from his mom at the time of her death "due to his dropping out of university studies and not working to support himself." Homer called that particular allegation "vile," claiming that he "maintained a close and active relationship" with his mom before her death.
James additionally claimed that Homer changed the locks on the apartment that Anne shared with Atlas after the actress died. Homer says the docs were changed "to prevent unauthorized access to the apartment and protect the tangible personal property of the Estate from theft or loss," something that Homer claims was previously communicated to James.
Homer also pushed back at James' allegation that he hasn't been in touch with Atlas since Anne's death, calling the claim "patently false."
"[Homer] 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 [Homer] have made it difficult for [Homer] to interact with Atlas regularly," the docs read.
In his court filing, James additionally claimed that Anne sent him an email with the subject line "WILL" back in 2011, amid their decade-long romance that ended in 2018.
In that email, James alleged that Anne requested 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."
In Homer's filing, he said that "as a matter of law, the email does not qualify as either a holographic will or formal witnessed will," since it was not written or signed in Anne's handwriting, and because it did not include two witnesses' signatures.
"Without a will," the docs read, "there can be no nomination of an executor."
Homer also alleged that his mom had sent similar emails before, most recently to her bookkeeper in 2020, which also "fails to qualify as a will on the same basis" as James' email.
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