Millionaire Adopts 42-Year-Old Girlfriend

John Goodman's move is bid to shield assets from suit, experts say
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2012 1:01 AM CST
Updated Feb 2, 2012 4:36 AM CST
Millionaire Adopts Girlfriend
Goodman's mugshot from his arrest in 2010.   (Palm Beach County Police)

Polo-obsessed Texas multimillionaire John Goodman has a new daughter: his girlfriend. Goodman legally adopted the 42-year-old blond in what experts believe is an attempt to shield his assets from the family of a young man he is accused of killing while driving drunk, the Houston Chronicle reports. The adoption means Heather Laruso Hutchins will be entitled to a third of a $200 million trust fund that Goodman, who inherited his father's air-conditioning fortune, set up for his two biological children.

Goodman, who was charged with vehicular manslaughter after the accident, will have both civil and criminal trials next month, and faces up to 30 years to jail. The judge in the civil case called the adoption a "surreal" move that takes the case into a "legal twilight zone." The adoption is legal, an adoption law expert tells the Daily Mail, but it's not clear whether Goodman can legally have sex with his new daughter. It's "creepy," the expert says, "but I don't know if that's illegal." (More strange stuff stories.)

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