When I read this story I kept expecting it to be from some strange internet site, but it actually came from The Huffington Post. Apparently yesterday Dennis Hopper filed for divorce. This despite the fact that he is on his deathbed and is very incapacitated by medications for his pain.
It actually sounds like his wife Victoria who he has been married to for 18 years is doing this out of selflessness. Hello Ryan O'Neal. Pay attention. Apparently this is all about Dennis being able to give more money to his kids when he dies and not have half to go to Victoria as community property. That is incredible. Dennis has three grown children and a six year old daughter with Victoria.
"It's truly a tragedy, and sadly its all about the money and who inherits what. This is about getting Victoria out of the will, nothing more, nothing less."
Maybe I don't understand wills and the like, but couldn't she just then turn around and give the money she received to the children?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was thinking kimmypie
ReplyDeletemoney is the biggest instigator of bullshit in life.
ReplyDeleteYou can only give something like $13,000 per year without incurring gift taxes. From a tax/estate standpoint, what he's doing is the most logical choice.
ReplyDeleteHow odd and sad. So, she'll get nothing because they are divorced? I hope she is still provided for as his ex-wife. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteI DON'T GET IT EITHER, CAN'T SHE REFUSE THE BEQUEST ?
ReplyDeletewhat cancan said. it has to do with taxes.
ReplyDeleteWAIT...IF THEY DIVORCE, WON'T SHE AUTOMATICALLY GET HALF AS COMMUNITY PROPERTY...I AM TOTALLY CONFUSED.
ReplyDeleteshazzzba...not if they have a separation agreement where she foregoes her half. Like enty said, it sounds like she is doing this voluntarily.
ReplyDeleteAHHHH....
ReplyDeleteOr is is really about avoiding taxes? This sounds fishy. How much money do grown kids need? They should go out and WORK like everybody else does.
ReplyDeletei don't get it either... why can't he just update his will? if she is selfless, wouldn't she just voluntarily give up whatever rights/inheritance she has? color me confused.
ReplyDeleteOr why can't he just write her out of the will? If Brittany Murphy's husband isn't getting anything because he wasn't in the will, why can't Dennis just write her out of his? So confusing.
ReplyDeleteOk I will try to explain. you can't write your spouse out of the will. Murphy's husband probably got his statutory portion (portion required by law) but most of Brit's assets will go to her mom.
ReplyDeleteShe could probably refuse her portion and therefore avoid the taxes but they might not want to take the chance. Besides, in addition to taxes there are probate costs. It is more complicated then you would think.
If you divorce someone they are automatically disinherited (even if you don't change your will) because the law assumes that you don't want to give to your ex. The exception is if you include them in a will AFTER the divorce (then it is assumed that you want to give them something even though you are no longer married).
Maybe Ent could explain the legalities of this because like the other posters, I don't get it. Maybe he doesn't have as much money as we think and they need SS benefits for the youngest? It just seems so strange and sad too.
ReplyDeleteWhat Alice said. Of course, this is based on the presumption that Victoria won't take a massive chunk (i.e., larger than she would have received as the surviving spouse) of his assets in the "divorce."
ReplyDeleteEnty, thanks. I didn't read it that way... it read like a family feud in the making. Your legal interpretation/expertise makes sense. Thank you! Very sad! Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth in BLUE VELVET is one for the ages.
ReplyDeleteFrank Booth: I'll have to send you a love letter!... You know what a love letter is? It's a bullet from a fucking gun, fucker! You receive a love letter from me, and you're fucked forever!... In dreams... I walk with you. In dreams... I talk to you. In dreams, you're mine... all the time. Forever.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!"
ReplyDeleteDennis Hopper!! Please get better! If he is making hard decisions like divorcing his wife for the sake of his kids -- yikes. Things must be getting pretty bad.
the 2010 repeal is confusing. I remembered hearing that the ET was permanently extended but it turns ou that only the house voted for that and not the senate. After 2010 the ET will be back in full force. In the mean time there is capital gains tax to consider.
ReplyDeleteI had to do a little research. Here is a good article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/opinion/28mon1.html
oh (((dennis hopper))), please hang in there...*heart* him...boo hiss on victoria. hate these money hungry hos.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that Victoria can't sign a post-nuptial agreement whereby she affirms that she is being disinherited from Dennis' estate and waives all rights to any monies in said estate. I was a paralegal for 37 years and I'm sure I drafted agreements like that.
ReplyDelete@Pookie, am I reading the article wrong? Cuz my take on it is that this Victoria is a pretty wonderful person, NOT trying to take all the money for herself...?
ReplyDeleteThis is just damn sad. Poor Dennis and Victoria to be worrying over money at a time like this. (Ryan O is just a classless tool.)
ReplyDeleteI'm lost. Where in that article does it say she's doing this out of the goodness of her heart? Unless he's already given her some money, I don't see why she'd be happy to step aside? Is she successful and well-off in her own right?
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that if he has a will and hopefully a trust he can state exactly what he wishes for his kids to get, and the same with his wife. If he does not have anything set up then it goes to his wife, it would be really odd if he does not have something set up already. Besides that the yearly gift amount per person is $15000 tax free, if he really wanted to help his kids was he already giving them money or ?
ReplyDeleteI am thinking there is more to the story and if it is just about cutting out Victoria and their young child for the sake of the other adult children then that is sad and not right imo.
This item doesn't really make sense to me - I don't understand how one must divorce one's wife in order to provide for one's children (and three are ADULTS, and should not need vast sums of money). To quote Lainey, my smutty sense is tingling.
ReplyDeleteBut to main point of this story - I'm so sorry Dennis is ill!! I've always really liked him, and hope he pulls through.
When my dad was dying of cancer my mom signed a legal document waiving her right to inherit certain things. It changed the inheritance from 50% to her & 50% divided by their 4 kids to a 5-way split (20% each) amongst wife & kids.
ReplyDeleteMom did not have to do it but they had been separated over a decade & she wanted it that way. Divorce is not required. Something else is up here but whatever, God bless the Hoppers.
I feel badly for anyone and their family when they are ill and dying.
ReplyDeleteI hope this is not just another wealthy persons way to avoid paying taxes.