Judges Decides Executor of Anne Heche’s Estate

Anne Heche‘s older son Homer Laffoon has been named general administrator of her estate after a months-long legal battle with her ex James Tupper that began after the actress died following a car crash in August.

The 20-year-old has been vying to take legal control over Heche’s remaining assets despite legal objections from Tupper, 57. In court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Homer — whom Heche shared with ex-husband Coleman Laffoon — scored a legal victory when Judge Lee Bogdanoff named him to a permanent position of power.

The judge did issue the caveat that Homer could be removed as administrator if any evidence of fraud or embezzlement related to Heche’s jewelry emerged — but, said Judge Bodganoff, there has been no evidence of wrongdoing up to this point.

With Heche’s second memoir still scheduled to be released and residuals for her acting roles still incoming, Judge Bodganoff noted the estate’s value is not set, so he scheduled a future hearing on the matter to address an $800,000 bond Homer previously requested on the estate.

Wednesday’s decision comes more than a month after Homer was granted expanded “special powers” as the special administrator of Heche’s estate, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Homer was granted permission to “take possession of all the personal property of the estate of the decedent and preserve it from damage, waste, and injury,” according to the documents. He is required to move the property into a storage facility and inventory the items within five days of the relocation.

He was also granted the power to protect the interests of Heche in “the publication agreement” of her forthcoming book.

Additionally, Homer is able to receive copies of Heche’s financial records and file personal tax returns on her behalf. The documents state that Homer is now able to “commence and maintain or defend” suits and other legal proceedings.

Tupper previously objected to Homer’s latest request for the court to “expand his authority” over his late mother’s estate, citing poor treatment of his and Heche’s son, 13-year-old Atlas.

Tupper, 57, previously alleged that Homer “has acted in a hostile manner” towards his half brother and “has refused to communicate with him or his representatives at all.”

“Further, Atlas has no confidence in [Homer]’s ability to meet his fiduciary obligations to Atlas,” the filing stated, adding that Homer has allegedly not inventoried their mother’s belongings, per his agreement with Tupper and Atlas, before they place the items in storage.

Tupper’s attorney Christopher B. Johnson previously argued that Homer already had some of the powers he’d requested from the court, which they said “underscores his lack of competence and inability to preserve estate assets.”

Johnson repeated those claims in court on Wednesday, claiming “mismanagement” by Homer, but Judge Bogdanoff declared there was no evidence of any malfeasance by Homer, nor any credence to Tupper’s claims. (When Homer was named special administrator in late October, the filing indicated…