RIP

The mother of Paul Walker's 15-year-old daughter appears to have serious alcohol issues -- TMZ has learned, she was arrested for DUI in August and that wasn't her only one -- and it's a major reason why Meadow moved away from her mom to live with Paul.

Rebecca Soteros was first arrested for DUI in 2003 in Orange County. She pled guilty and was sentenced to 3 years probation.

History repeated itself last year, when Soteros was arrested again for DUI in Hawaii. That case is ongoing.

Sources close to the family tell TMZ ... Rebecca's drinking has been an ongoing issue for years. Paul's daughter Meadow called her famous dad in 2011 and pleaded to let her move to L.A. and live with him. He happily obliged, because we're told Paul and Rebecca had countless arguments for years over her drinking problems.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's family left their NYC apartment Thursday afternoon ... presumably to attend the actor's wake.

Mimi O'Donnell watched over the three kids she had with Hoffman as they made their way to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on Madison Avenue.

The wake will be held from 5 - 9 PM EST.

A funeral service will be held tomorrow at the St. Ignatius of Loyola Church on Park Avenue. The service will be small and private -- only family and close friends.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's recent and fatal path down the road of addiction was triggered by an innocent drink ... sources close to the actor tell TMZ.

Hoffman had been sober for 23 years prior to shooting "The Master" -- but during a wrap party in 2012, the actor succumbed to temptation ... and celebrated the movie with a drink ... which quickly became a couple of drinks.

Hoffman acknowledged to confidants ... the drinks opened the floodgates. Addictions experts all say one drink can destroy an addict's life ... and that seems to be what happened here.

Sources tell us Hoffman didn't begin experimenting with heroin until 2013, after he had already fully fallen off the wagon. We're told he had long been curious about the drug.

It started with snorting -- and last May, he quickly checked into rehab because he was terrified it would escalate to IV use ... which it eventually did.

Cops did NOT snag the drug dealer who was allegedly selling dangerous heroin to Philip Seymour Hoffman ... sources tell TMZ.

We know the informant -- who armed cops with the info they needed to get a search warrant -- claimed Hoffman had 2 principal heroin suppliers. We're told the informant said Robert Vineberg was the main guy, but when he would run out of heroin Vineberg would send a guy named Max Rosenblum to get more smack from someone down the street.

As we reported, Vineberg was arrested in Tuesday's bust and has been charged with felony heroin possession with an intent to sell. He pled not guilty. Rosenblum has been charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession.

Three of the four people arrested in what cops believe may be a link to Philip Seymour Hoffman's death were in court, and have been arraigned on drug charges.

Robert Vineberg -- the man a police informant claims sold drugs to him and Hoffman -- pled not guilty to felony possession of heroin with an intent to sell.

Vineberg's attorney, Ed Kratt, tells TMZ, "these charges have NOTHING to do with the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman."

Juliana Luchkiw and Max Rosenblum are NOT charged with heroin possession. Instead, prosecutors have charged them with 1 count each for possession of cocaine ... a misdemeanor.

We spoke with the lawyer for Juliana who pled not guilty. The lawyer says his client has never met Hoffman.

A fourth man --Thomas Cushman -- was arrested but not charged with a crime due to lack of evidence.

TMZ broke the story .... an informant who triggered the bust has told cops ... Vineberg was Hoffman's main dealer, and the actor came by his apartment twice a week to score dozens of bags of heroin.

Joaquin Phoenix and Michelle Williams -- both of whom lost loved ones to ODs -- paid their respects Wednesday to Mimi O'Donnell -- the longtime partner of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Phoenix -- who's brother River Phoenix died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine in 1993 -- paid a visit to O'Donnell's NYC apartment, accompanied by GF Allie Teilz.

Joaquin co-starred with Hoffman two years ago in "The Master."

Williams showed up a short time later. She co-starred with PSH in "Synecdoche, New York" in 2008 ... the same year her ex-partner -- Heath Ledger -- was found dead in his apartment from an accidental overdose of Rx meds.

O'Donnell's been receiving a number of well-wishers ... including Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Aniston's fiance, Justin Theroux.

Paul Walker's will was poorly drafted ... making it SEEM like he wanted his mom to wrestle parental control of his daughter from his baby mama-- yet in a strange twist of events, the will now reflects exactly what Paul would have wanted.

Paul's will was drafted back in 2001 ... and it makes his mother Cheryl the legal guardian of Meadow. It reeks of a family feud because there's no mention of Meadow's mother Rebecca Soteros.

The guardianship clause doesn't make sense ... because at the time the will was drafted Meadow lived with her mom in Hawaii .... and sources close to Paul say he was happy with the arrangement when he signed the will.

Now the twist of fate. Three years ago Meadow moved to Southern California to live with her dad and Rebecca stayed in Hawaii. Meadow wants to continue living in So. Cal. and Rebecca is fine with it ... she will continue to live in the Aloha state.

So now it makes complete sense for Paul's mom Cheryl to become the guardian of Meadow.

As TMZ first reported ... Paul's father -- executor of the will -- has petitioned the court to make Paul's mom guardian of Meadow. Cheryl will also be the trustee of Paul's $25 million estate -- which will eventually go outright to Meadow.

So ... Father did know best.

Philip Seymour Hoffman desperately told his drug dealer he was trying to kick his ever-growing heroin problem ... TMZ has learned.

An informant who has been working with NYC cops since Hoffman's death says he was privy to conversations between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Vineberg -- one of the 4 people arrested last night in a heroin bust.

The informant -- who was central to cops obtaining a search warrant that led to the arrests -- claims Vineberg regularly sold heroin to Hoffman. He says in some of the text messages Hoffman told Vineberg he was struggling to kick his heroin habit and wanted nothing more than to clean up his life.

The informant was very specific, saying Hoffman bemoaned that the worst part of getting clean was uncontrollable bowel movements.

And according to the informant, he would often see Hoffman in Vineberg's apartment and he seemed like "a man on a mission." There was no small talk ... just business. And he says Hoffman always looked unhappy.

Philip Seymour Hoffman made multiple cash withdrawls from a supermarket ATM -- totaling $1200 -- the day before his death ... this according to law enforcement sources.

TMZ has confirmed Hoffman withdrew the money in six transactions inside the Manhattan supermarket.

Also ... police did not find the infamous "deadly heroin" in Hoffman's apartment. The mix of the powerful painkiller fentanyl and heroin caused dozens of deaths on the East coast this year ... but it was not among the drugs scattered around the apartment.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's longtime partner came out of seclusion Tuesday ... to make plans for the actor's funeral.

Mimi O'Donnell went to the funeral home on New York's Upper East Side to make arrangements for Friday's service. She was accompanied by Hoffman's personal assistant.

Hoffman and O'Donnell were together 15 years and had three kids. There are unconfirmed reports the two split recently.

Paul Walker was worth $25 million when he died and there seems to be some possibility of a family conflict ... this, based on new documents obtained by TMZ.

We've obtained a copy of Paul Walker's will. Walker left his entire estate -- $25 mil -- to his 15-year-old daughter Meadow.

Paul's dad -- the named executor -- filed Paul's will with the court. Paul's dad has petitioned the court to appoint Paul's mother -- Cheryl -- guardian of Meadow. What's more, Paul's dad wants Cheryl to be the guardian of the $25 mil. This is exactly what Paul wanted under the will.

Now Meadow lives with her mom, Rebecca Soteros. If Paul gets his last wish, grandma will become Meadow's guardian. It's unclear if Rebecca approves, but it's definitely strange that Paul wanted his mom to be guardian since Meadow lives with Rebecca.

A court hearing is scheduled for later this month.

Several bags of heroin found in Philip Seymour Hoffman's apartment were potentially lethal ... so says a woman who almost died from using the brand.

We got this photo from a woman who is very familiar with the NYC heroin scene. She asked us not to ID her. The woman gave us this picture, showing the "Ace of Hearts" heroin brand.

She tells us she injected herself with a "tiny bit" of "Ace of Hearts" back in Sept., and says she stopped breathing almost instantly. She was revived with CPR and landed in the hospital.

The woman says when she got out of the hospital she went to cops and told them about what she called a lethal strain of heroin going around NYC.

The woman says she saw Hoffman on the streets in the weeks before he died and it was apparent to her he was strung out.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was on a heroin binge 6 weeks before he died, and told friends he feared he was destined to fatally OD ... TMZ has learned.

Sources Hoffman confided in tell us ... back in December Hoffman told them he had started injecting himself with heroin and couldn't kick it. Hoffman said he would kick it for a few days and then fall off the wagon.

We're told he went back to AA in a desperate attempt to clean up ... but much to his great frustration it didn't work.

During the last 6 weeks he often looked disheveled and dirty. At one point someone asked him how bad his problem was, and he responded, "If I don't stop I know I'm gonna die."

We're told Hoffman was also drinking excessively ... which opened the door to many bad decisions when it came to heroin use.

Ironically and sadly, we're told Hoffman went to AA meetings over the last 4 years and was considered a "guru," because he had been sober for so long. Hoffman would give inspirational talks to people who attended.

Besides the heroin ... cops found a laundry list of prescription meds in Philip Seymour Hoffman's apartment ... including pills to treat addiction, ADHD, and anxiety.

According to law enforcement sources ... investigators found methocarbamol (muscle relaxer), hydroxyzine (anti-anxiety), Vyvanse (ADHD), and buprenorphine to treat addiction ... and clonidine hydrochloride (blood pressure).

It's unclear at this point if Hoffman had prescriptions for any of the drugs.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was out like a light minutes after boarding a plane in Georgia last week ... after he was seen hitting the bottle at an Atlanta bar ... TMZ has learned.

According to a passenger ... Hoffman was out almost as quickly as he took his seat for the NY-bound jet Thursday ... his head falling forward into his chest.

We're told sometime after the plane took off ... PSH came to ... groggy and disheveled. After the flight touched down, we're told he was quickly put on a waiting airport cart and whisked away.

As we first reported ... Hoffman had been drinking in a downtown Atlanta bar earlier that day -- just 3 days before his death -- witnesses said he appeared drunk and made repeated trips to the bathroom.