When James Van Der Beek passed away on February 11, family friends set up a GoFundMe to help his wife and children. Many celebrities, including Steven Spielberg and Zoe Saldana, contributed to it. James was vocal during the last months of his life about just how much his cancer treatments had drained his finances. His medical insurance would have most likely been under SAG-AFTRA’s, but it’s not known if he worked enough hours in 2025 to qualify for it. As of February 16, the GoFundMe is well over $2.6 million dollars.
James and his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek had been renting a 36-acre property just outside of Austin, TX since 2020. They’ve been raising their six children there and the GFM mentioned that they wanted their children to stay in their current home. Within a day of the GFM launch, however, TMZ broke the news that James had actually bought the property through an LLC in an off-market sale on January 9, a month before his death. People then got a statement from his rep that he was able to do so by setting up a trust with the help of friends.
Prior to his death, James Van Der Beek secured a down payment for the Texas ranch that he and his family had previously been renting.
His representative tells PEOPLE that before the actor died at age 48 on Feb. 11 following a journey with stage 3 colorectal cancer, the Dawson’s Creek alum secured a down payment on the Austin ranch where he had been residing with his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and their six children.
“James secured down payment for the Texas ranch for the family with the help of friends through a trust so they could shift from rent to mortgage,” the rep tells PEOPLE.
In 2020, James and Kimberly permanently left Beverly Hills, Calif., and relocated to Austin with their kids: daughters Olivia, 15, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, and Gwendolyn, 7, and sons Joshua, 13, and Jeremiah, 4, the latter of whom was not yet born.
Speaking to PEOPLE in November 2022, the late actor said that living in Texas has been a “centering” experience for him and his family. And “for the kids,” he said, “it’s been grounding, and a different kind of education that we never could have offered them in a classroom.”
Since moving, he explained at the time, the family was able to slow down and connect more with both nature and each other. His kids “jump around,” he said. “They sing, ‘rain, rain come today,’ and they run out in it, because we need it.”
“It’s just connected us, not just to nature, but to the natural life cycles all around us,” added the father of six.
In the wake of James’ death on Feb. 11, friends of the Van Der Beek family organized a GoFundMe page to collect donations after James’ medical care left the family “out of funds.”
The fundraiser, which states it will “help cover essential living expenses, pay bills, and support the children’s education,” received over $2.2 million in the first 48 hours.
I’ve read that there may be provisions under Texas law that prevents a family from losing their home due to medical debt, especially if it’s considered a homestead. I’m not a Texas trust and estate attorney, though, so I’m not sure which boxes (if any) the VDB family checks off. It does seem that before he passed, James was trying to set his family up as best he could, and buying the ranch could make it harder for them to lose it than if they were still renting it. It was very generous of his friends to step up and help cover the down payment. It was also incredibly generous of everyone who has donated to the GoFundMe over the last several days.
That said, at this point, the GFM goal has been raised a few times. The family is so fortunate to have raised so much money. Sadly, a family going into medical debt and becoming at risk of losing their home is universally understood to be a uniquely American experience. Their GoFundMe has raised more than so many other families with so much less will ever see. I think it’s time to close the VDB one and redirect future donors to other charities that help support cancer patients and their families.
Photos credit: Avalon.red and Getty Images
