Heath Ledger’s daughter to inherit his fortune
By Alexandra Heilbron on September 29, 2008 | 13 Comments
Heath Ledger‘s father, Kim, has told Australia’s Herald Sun that the family decided Ledger’s two-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose, will inherit the actor’s estate, believed to be worth $20 million. Ledger had not updated his will after his daughter’s birth. The 28-year-old actor had specified that his estate was to be divided between his parents and three sisters in his will, which was signed two years before Matilda was born. His will left half of his estate to his sisters, and the other half to his parents. Heath was found dead of an accidental prescription drug overdose at his Manhattan apartment earlier this year. Matilda’s mother, actress Michelle Williams, was expected to file a claim for his estate on behalf of their daughter, but Kim Ledger says, “There is no claim. Our family has gifted everything to Matilda.”
Good for the family, shows the true character of a family who is not the typical greedy fight to the ‘death’ stereotype.
That was very nice of Heath family. Im sure Heath is very happy right of his family decision. Not a lot of people would do this.God bless his soul…
Good, this is how it should be. They did the right thing.
It really is a beautiful thing to hear. Unfortunately, poor Matilda may not see all of that $20 million. Heath took out a $10 million life insurance policy with ReliaStar Life Insurance Company just 7 months before he passed. Apparently ReliaStar isn’t quite convinced his death was accident, even though doctors have stated otherwise. ReliaStar is refusing to pay the $10 million until they’ve concluded an investigation of their own into his death. They’re going over depositions given by Mary-Kate Olsen, interviewing co-stars, doctors and even the masseuse who discovered his body. ReliaStar is saying that his death is “suspicious” and a possible suicide. The good news is that Michelle Williams has hired an attorney in Matilda’s name to fight the insurance company. According to California law it’s illegal to re-examine applications after the death of the policyholder. Let’s pray everything works out in Matilda’s favor.
Yeah, let’s pray real hard….cause the other $10 million + all the cash donated by Johnny Depp and co-stars + all the interest from now until she is what? 21 years old + inheritance from mommy = barely enough for community college….right! Very nice of Heath’s family to do this for Matilda and the right thing to do as well. Sure, maybe the $10 million from the insurance company will be rightfully owed to her, but she won’t be too strapped without it!
it seems so rarely we get to say this these days….that’s class.
Nancy, I agree that even without the $10 million life insurance policy Matilda will be taken care of financially for the rest of her life, but that’s not the point. The point is that Heath’s family gave that money to Matilda and the insurance company has no right no with hold it. The doctors have all ruled that Heath’s death was an accident and ReliaStar isn’t paying up. That money is Matilda’s now and she deserves to see all $10 million, whether she needs it or not.
I do agree with you marvel man, that Matilda is entitled to the insurance policy funds. Isn’t it typical of these insurance companies to expect a young and appearingly healthy person to pay top dollar for life insurance and expect to never have to surrender the value of the policy? Very similar to what I was saying on the ‘Hollywood Stars Paid to Smoke’ article…..the Government taxes cigarettes at top dollar and then allows Canadian Doctors to deny treatment to patients who smoke…???? Pay in but, don’t expect to get anything out!!!
oh my god. this kid will be fine. enough about her.
The insurance company is investigating the $12.5 million claim on the grounds of suicide but, if Matilda’s lawyers win, the courts could award her UP TO an extra $62 million in punative damages from the insurance company. Which would be a very awesome amount by the time she is old enough to place her bank card in the ATM!!!
Good for Kim Ledger, classy move. The exact amount is not important, the fact the family decided to gift it to Heath’s daughter speaks volumes.
As it should be.Heath Ledger was a talented young actor who was taken far too soon.He was well on his way to joining the esteemed company of actors like Robert Deniro,Al Pacino,Meryl Streep,Daniel- Day Lewis and many other similar actors.All of those aforementioned actors have the ability to completely immerse themselves in a role and that`s what Heath could do so brilliantly(and I`m not just saying that because he`s dead).
The scary part is that the guy was only 28 years old and he had his whole life ahead of him.He`s gone,but the fans will never forget him and his young daughter may never really know her father but I`m sure she will grow up with a positive understanding of who he was and in addition to that thanks to the fortune he left behind she won`t have to want for anything.
very well put, jrobert