8th June 2010

Dennis Hopper, film actor and co-star of 1969 movie classic Easy Rider, died on 29th May 2010 from prostate cancer. Before his death, it was his desperate wish to be divorced from his wife of 14 years which made the headlines, and after his demise, once the obituaries had been printed and read, it was then the turn of the couple's pre-nuptial agreement to be scrutinised in the media.

On 31st May, the New York Post reported that the "bitter battle" over Hopper's multi-million dollar estate had only "just begun", and although he had been attempting to split from his wife, Victoria Duffy, since January, the divorce had not been finalised before his death.

The couple's pre-nuptial agreement reportedly states that Duffy, who has a 7-year-old daughter fathered by Hopper, should receive a 25 percent share of the Hopper fortune, alongside a $250,000 payout from a life insurance policy.

However, the pre-nuptial agreement stipulated that the couple must be "living together" for its terms to be valid. Although Duffy still lives on Hopper property, it is in a house separate to that which Hopper lived in and his three adult children say this means the pre-nup is void.

Neil Fisher Horton, head of the California Bar's Trust and Estates Section commented, "It really depends what Mr. Hopper meant by those words, 'living together'.

"I'm sure what will happen is that the attorney who drafted the will will be subject [to a] deposition and be asked to produce any notes that may or may not shed light on it."

Both parties' divorce solicitors refused to comment on the pre-nuptial agreement or the position of their clients in the case of the estate.