Dennis Hopper -- on his deathbed and filing for divorce

[CatWoman]

Isn't this strange?

Dennis Hopper, who is reportedly facing his 'final days surrounded by family and friends,' filed for divorce yesterday from his wife of 14 years, Victoria Hopper, the mother of their six-year-old daughter Galen.

Victoria is wife number five, but this marriage has far outlasted the previous four, which included the 8-day marriage to Michelle Phillips. He and Victoria have been together for 18 years. So what happened?

Adding to the confusion, a family friend told Huffington Post that Hopper is mentally incapacitated from the enormous amounts of medication he is on given his state.

A long time friend of the couple said, "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."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/15/dennis-hopper-divorce-sho_n_424589.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[CatWoman]

2. oh come on

don't be like that......

[dysfunctional press]

32. so it's okay by you that he divorce his wife on his deathbed to keep her from inheiriting?

whatever...

[CatWoman]

33. no, it's not alright with me

and neither is your "charitable" comment about him.....

[dysfunctional press]

44. so- you've never said anything untoward about any repugs...?

pat robertson? rush limbaugh...? :shrug:

[CatWoman]

61. not while they are on their deathbed

:shrug:

[Sans Culottes]

65. Delete

point was already made.

[CBGLuthier]

35. his marriage is your concern because?

Why does the world think what people they don't know do with their relationships is any of their fucking business.

What you wrote was a lot uglier than anything the man has ever done.

[dysfunctional press]

41. i consider supporting raygun and both bushes to be even ugkier...

but- you're welcome to your opinion too. :hi:

[tonysam]

49. But he voted for Obama. n/t

[dysfunctional press]

51. but he also voted for raygun twice, bush sr. twice, dole, and bush jr. twice.

and he didn't vote FOR obama, he voted AGAINST palin.

[tonysam]

56. Actually, in the interview

though he sounded extremely impressed with Obama for other reasons rather than just voting against Palin.

[dysfunctional press]

57. one vote for obama doesn't erase a lifetime of repuggishness...

especially considering the disappointment that obama is become.

[tonysam]

76. It hasn't been a "lifetime" for Hopper.

Only since Reagan.

Besides, that doesn't have a damned thing to do with him having greedy shits for kids.

[CreekDog]

59. hey, i'll take it

shows some sense! :rofl:

[joeybee12]

40. And you know for a fact he's the one controlling this?

He could be so far gone one of his kids might be manipulating him...that's what first crossed my mind.

[dysfunctional press]

43. he's the one signing his name.

[joeybee12]

47. That means nothing...they could be telling him lies about her...

...we know nothing really about the true circumstances, but you blamed it on him right away.

[dysfunctional press]

52. because he's the one doing the divorcing.

[joeybee12]

55. you're not getting it...n/t

[dysfunctional press]

58. no- you're the one not getting it.

but that's your prerogative.

[CBGLuthier]

3. pathetic

[dysfunctional press]

38. so was his suppport of raygun and the bushies.

as well as divorcing his wife over will issues.

[hlthe2b]

6. I was shocked when I saw the news of his pending death...

Yeah, he was a RW loon, but I did like him as an actor. Whatever would make him divorce the mother of his 6 yo child, just to keep her from inheriting--while on your deathbed? Geebus... Words fail.

[CatWoman]

21. must be a Republican thing

remember Newt pulling pretty much the same stunt on his first wife?

[Bucky]

24. Sadly, Newt has not had such an opportunity

[hlthe2b]

30. Oh yeah.... I remember very clearly..

must be a sociopath gene dominant among most of these lifetime REPUGS

[tonysam]

42. Actually BOTH of Newt's first two wives got sick

and he ditched them both times.

They are both still alive, however.

[Bucky]

48. And you would too!

Still, I think it's a good argument for the existence of God that getting divorced from Newt Gingrich apparently cures cancer.

[tonysam]

54. LOL!!!! n/t

[CatWoman]

62. ROFL!!

:thumbsup:

[tsuki]

72. Not only did he ditch his first wife when she was in the hospital

recovering from cancer surgery, he ran out on his child and refused to support them. Their church had to take up a collection to pay their electric bill.

Newt for Prez. Yeah, a trust worthy man.

[tonysam]

39. Hopper was said to have voted for Obama, however,

because he wasn't happy with Palin being on the GOP ticket.

Here is the link:

link

He states his wife was/is a "big supporter of Obama."

It's a very interesting clip as to why he switched sides. He said he had been the first in his family to vote Republican.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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[dysfunctional press]

34. not really...

just over 6 ft.(i was taller, but a crippling spinal disorder shrank me a little), 225 lbs., size 16 feet...
and- i have no intention of divorcing my wife on my deathbed to keep her from inheriting anything.

[Rebubula]

31. weak

What has he done, other than maybe believe different than you?

[dysfunctional press]

37. he voted for/supported ronnie raygun and george w, bush.

and divorcing his wife on his deathbe takes some real class all by itself.

[NightWatcher]

4. I thought you had to be mentally sound to file legal paperwork

Sorry to hear he's on his way off this mortal coil. He was always a hoot.

He will always be Billy to me

[Hardrada]

15. Yeah, same here.

Later on I noticed he pretty much always played the same character but I will remember him best on that custom Harley.

[aquart]

5. I gave him some bandaids once.

About 45 years ago.

[omega minimo]

25. cool

[aquart]

66. It was in the Harlem studio where The Defenders was filmed.

He'd just finished his stint and he wanted the dressing room to remember him. His plan was to tape his fake wound bandage to the wall next to the doorjamb but he had no tape. I had a real wound on my knee from a bicycle accident so I let him have my extra bandaids to tape the fake wound bandage to the wall.

And thus my brush with fame.

[omega minimo]

67. LOL

Thanks for sharing that. :hi:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Has Dennis Hopper ever not been mentally incapacitated from enormous amounts of drugs?

[mudplanet]

12. I'm no authority, but I believe he was a hopeless, obnoxious drunk

for about twenty years that no one would work with, and then in the late 80s or early 90s he cleaned up his act re: recovery, and has been pretty much sober since then, and quite productive.

[here_is_to_hope]

8. I was a neighbor of his for years...

He was as nuts as they come, I mean most of his characters he played were not far off the mark.
He used to buy pot from my brother in large quantities and give it away on the boardwalk in Venice...don't know why but he did that quite a few times.

[Cirque du So-What]

16. Feck weed?

Sorry. I hope this reference to a component of The River's Edge isn't too obscure.

[geardaddy]

28. ...

:thumbsup:

[sharp_stick]

29. That is obscure

but as soon as you mentioned the title it really made me smile.

[here_is_to_hope]

68. I had to look that reference up, never saw the movie...

though growing up in Venice, I may have lived it...
Strange place.
He had a party and a few of his friends were found in a van parked near the old Chili Peppers' house, smoking crack at 8 in the morning.
Strange days indeed.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. He's attempting to disinherit his wife.

If you're married when you die, and you write your spouse out of your Will, the surviving spouse can still inherit under the doctrine of Spousal Election. In most states, it's 1/3 of the value of the Estate. The rationale for this legislative protection is not so much for the spouse, but for the State which doesn't want to subsidize a multitude of poor widows (or widowers, but less likely).

So it stands to reason if Dennis Hopper is divorced one minute and dies the next, his latest wife (or ex-wife by that time) has little chance of suing in Surrogates Court to get anything he hasn't put in his Will that is valued under 1/3 of the Estate.

[Tempest]

11. He's not behind it

It's his kids. He's incapacitated and almost comatose.

[no_hypocrisy]

18. If true, then the Will can't hold under legal scrutinization.

1. Incapacity to sign (although the threshold for capacity is incredibly negligible for Will executions);

2. Signing under duress (threat of harm);

3. Signing with undue influence (a person who has a confidential relationship with you "persuades" you in deciding how to distribute your estate. No gun to the head, shouting, or broken bones).

[Bucky]

27. It's a divorce action, not a will

It's a divorce action and a lawyer fiesta.

[no_hypocrisy]

64. To disinherit someone you're married to before you die, you have to first divorce him/her.

Ergo the divorce.

[tonysam]

50. Yep. It's despicable. They don't give a rip about their dad.

It's disgusting.

[tonysam]

53. Or, conversely, marrying just a couple of days before death

so the spouse can inherit the estate. My brother re-married my sister-in-law a day or two before he died in 1989.

[leftynyc]

10. No way a judge will grant

a divorce is he's mentally incapacitated.

[Bucky]

13. The saddest part is that all he needed to do is rewrite the will. Now the lawyers get it all.

There must be a lot of hurt behind this.

If he'd simply rewritten his will and left her a pittance, it probably would have stood up to any challenges. But by launching a messy divorce proceeding in his last few days, he's guaranteeing that she'll lawyer up and get a nice healthy cut of any settlement. It'll be in courts for years, with all the challenges to his mental fitness at the time of this decision. This case alone could work as a stimulus package for the California economy. Lawyers will drain off a massive chunk of whatever wealth his family is fighting over. The smart move here is to get a lawyer to take the case on contingency fee so as to limit the loss to a mere 30-40% of the final cut.

[msanthrope]

20. You are incorrect, legally.

You cannot leave your spouse a 'pittance' in any state in the US. She gets a min. 1/3 in almost every jurisdiction.

A will written in your last days, while under pain medication, and with the beneficiaries crowded about your bedside will seldom stand up to challenge. Few lawyers would be stupid enough to try.

A contingency fee for this type of case? No. On multiple levels, no.

[Bucky]

26. How certain are you about that?

I've got a few lawyers in my acquaintance and have heard all sorts of stories of wives getting screwed in wills. I've never heard the 1/3 minimum rule before. This is coming from Texas. What legal jurisdictions are you familiar with?

[northzax]

36. Texas is community property, I believe

A spouse, whether through divorce or death, is entitled to no less than 50% of all assets acquired during the marriage. Other states basically say that the whole package is on the table. Barring contractual agreements between the parties, of course.

[Bucky]

46. "Community property" means the default is you get half the estate in a *divorce*, not a will.

Seriously, where are you getting this from?

[northzax]

60. no it doesn't

community property means different things in different states, but in Texas, for instance, it means an 'equitable division' of all property obtained during the marriage, save through inheritance or a few other loopholes. Texas doesn't care how the marriage ended, only that it did.

google some of the following: for California: Meyer v. Kinzer and Wife, 12 Cal. 247 (1859).

as for Texas, I refer you to Texas Family Law section 3.300-4.206, which define community property and prenuptial agreements, they refer to the 'dissolution' of the marriage, as well as to the death of one spouse. you could also check out Texas Probate Law, which divides community property, by defaultm into two halves, one for the spouse and one for the direct descendants of the descendant. whatever shares of the property go to the children of the living spouse go to that spouse.

you might want to check with your attorney friends and reconfirm. or, simply get better attorneys as friends.

[msanthrope]

69. Quite certain. And 1/3 of probate assets can still be a screwing,

especially if the marital home was not held jointly between husband and wife. It's entirely possible to remove most of your assets from the probate process, and really, really fuck over your spouse.

I would not hire an attorney unfamiliar with the modern codification of the common law's "widow's third."

[spoony]

14. Sadly, a person's last days can often be mired in

people jockeying for position, trying to influence the dying. I don't know if that's what's going on or if he really is "of sound mind" right now, but I know how f'd up these situations can be--probably even moreso when more money is involved.

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. That much is certain.

It sometimes sucks to be the child of your dad's first wife.

[Bucky]

22. Now who on earth would unrec this thread? Seriously, someone hates these facts?

You're supposed to unrec opinion threads or threads you don't think people should pay attention to. :banghead:


Now if the OP wrote something like "I take a small bit of satisfaction in knowing this is happening to a Republican's estate" this thread would probably get a wave of recommendations and un-recs fighting it out. But unreccing a straight up news report? Goofy.

[edbermac]

23. Hey Frank, that amyl nitrite will really fuck you up!

You should have stuck to Pabst Blue Ribbon!

[Zomby Woof]

45. He has always been a weird fuck

There is nothing new under the sun with this story.

[onethatcares]

63. I keep seeing him in two scenes.

in Easy Riders when he gives the redneck in the pickup the finger, and the moneymaker when he sold his soul to push some kind of financial road to nirvana.

Too bad he's going out this way, it doesn't do a thing for his "Biker Billy" persona.

BTW, families and money, it never ends, ever.

[gleaner]

70. It is kind of Newt Gingrich of him ...

Gingrich walked away from his wife when she was dying of cancer to keep from paying her medical expenses. A different situation here, but still the same strange sentiment. I don't understand some men. Hopper is trying to keep the mother of his child from inheriting what is at least partly their community property.

She should have a conservancy hearing to make sure he is competent to make the decision before he proceeds with the divorce. Large doses of drugs do not improve the ability to make decisions. To me, it sounds like he needs an evaluation.

[tonysam]

75. I doubt it's him. This has his kids' fingerprints all over it.

Greedy shits, the whole lot of them.

[gleaner]

79. All the more reason for ...

a court appointed conservator. It would protect him from his kids if they are exerting undue influence.

My Mother In Law died of cancer in October last year. Before that the chemo drugs they were given her caused her to have a major psychotic break. They gave her intensive therapy and meds, but I'm not sure she ever entirely came out of it. She would call us and ask what the people down here in LA were saying about her, when she had not lived here in 25 years and didn't know anyone buy us anymore. It was not like her and it was very sad. Heavy pain meds can do the same thing. So if Dennis Hopper is acting out of character, someone needs to find out why.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

71. I once watched the director's print of Easy Rider...

At WorldFest which is a film festival in Houston.
He was supposed to show up, but did not.
He sent the director's print (his personal print) which had only been screened two or three times.
It was amazing seeing that on the big screen.

And I loved the PHASE SHIFT from one side of the screen to the other in the music!!!

Oh, and BTW, Peter Fonda was a SEXGOD in that movie.

[WT Fuheck]

73. good riddance

he turned into a waste of skin and a vile human being

[Blasphemer]

74. I didn't even realize he was ill. Very strange story... nt

[tonysam]

77. From the L.A. Weekly, which disputes HuffPo

Actor Dennis Hopper filed for divorce from his wife Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. He cited irreconcilable differences for the split from his wife of 14 years, Victoria Hopper.

In a bizarre and arguably sensationalist twist, the Huffington Post reports that the actor, who has been reported to be ill, is facing his "final days surrounded by family and friends" and that he is "mentally incapacitated." It's an odd pronouncement because, if he's on his deathbed, why would he file for divorce (from family and friend, no less)? And how would he find the energy or clarity to file if he's a mental case? What's more, an LA Weekly source disputes any contention that he's out of his mind and doesn't know what he's doing.

The source described seeing Hopper at an event in late December and that he was "lucid" and "walking around" and "clearly knew what he was doing." (Maybe those were the days before his "final days").

More

This thing gets curiouser and curiouser.

[barb162]

78. He should just have had a lawyer write a good will so his money

goes where he wants and divorced his wife a few years ago.

[LaydeeBug]

80. she should just contest it. nt

[tonysam]

81. Another story from the NY Post

Dennis Hopper's wife has barricaded herself in their Venice Beach, Calif., home while the "Easy Rider" star battles prostate cancer from his hospital deathbed, a source close to the family told The Post.

The legendary actor and director, 73, filed for divorce from Victoria, his wife of 14 years, on Thursday, citing "irreconcilable differences."

Hopper -- who isn't expected to live more than a month -- is trying to keep his wife from contesting his will, which apparently leaves her only a quarter of his estate.

He's also hoping the move will force Victoria from the Venice Beach compound where Hopper and two of his grown children and their families live.

The quarter of his estate, mentioned further in the article, is what they had agreed to in the prenup.

link