Anne Heche 's ex-husband James Tupper has filed to become the legal guardian of their 13-year-old son Atlas amid continued tension over the late actress' estate.
Heche died aged 53 after she crashed her Mini Cooper into a two-storey home in Los Angeles on August 12. It is thought her vehicle was travelling 90mph before it smashed into the building – exploding into a fireball, leaving the home uninhabitable.
She was left on life support for a week Grossman Burn Centre at West Hills Hospital before it was switched off after she was declared brain dead. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner has since confirmed that Anne died due to inhalation of smoke and thermal injuries in the August 5 smash.
However, since her tragic and untimely death, her eldest son, Homer Laffoon, 20, and ex Tupper, 57, have been at loggerheads regarding who should be in control of Heche's estate, with 13-year-old Atlas caught in the middle of the family feud.
Atlas and Homer are subject to half of the Trees actress' estate under intestacy but with the younger sibling unable to appoint an administrator as a minor, Tupper believes a "private professional fiduciary" should take care of the "complexity" of her estate.
In documents obtained by DailyMail.com, Tupper has objected Homer's petition for Heche's estate, deeming him "not suitable" as he is too young and was estranged from his mother at the time of her death.
"James Tupper is Atlas' father and only living parent. James loves both Homer and Atlas as a father and wants the best for them both," the filing states.
"In order to preserve family harmony and a healthy, brotherly relationship between Atlas and Homer, and given the complexity this estate will foreseeably involve ... a bonded, neutral, private professional fiduciary would be a more appropriate administrator."
Tupper and Heche were together for nearly ten years before separating in January 2018 and the Revenge actor had claimed last month that an email sent by his ex-partner in 2011, which allegedly expressed her wishes for Tupper to be the executor in the result of her death, should be treated as a will.
But Laffoon had already filed a petition to Los Angeles County probate court to manage his mother's estate and also be named as the legal guardian for his younger step-brother in late August.
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