Heath Ledger's family feud over will

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Heath Ledger's uncles are reportedly arguing over the ability of his dad to look after the late star's estate.



Heath, who died from an accidental prescription drug overdose on 22 January in New York, has a two-year-old daughter, Matilda, from his relationship with Michelle Williams.



But the actor had not updated his will to include them before his untimely death – and left everything to his parents and sisters.



Heath's dad, Kim, has assured everyone that Matilda and Michelle will be 'taken care of', but Heath's uncles are now claiming Kim has a poor track record of handling estates, alleging he had to be removed as the executor of their grandfather's estate in Australia 15 years ago.



'It plunged into enormous debt,' Kim’s brother, Mike Ledger, told People. 'Our only vested interest is to assure that Matilda is well looked after.



'When you are talking about large sums of money like this, it should be an independent executor, but Kim hasn’t chosen that way.'



Another of Heath’s uncles, Hayden, says he was approached by the father of Michelle Williams and asked if Kim was capable of handling the estate.



'I just said, "No, not if he handles it like ours,’” Hayden claimed.



The family feud dates back to the death of millionaire engineer Sir Frank Ledger, when Kim became exectutor of his estate, which they estimate was worth about $2 million in the mid-Eighties. The family patriarch was a respected engineer in Perth.



A report in Australia's The Sunday Times says that a Supreme Court judge eventually removed Kim from overseeing the estate, and Kim and his brothers have remained estranged since the dispute.



Robert John Collins – an Australian executor of Heath's will who has known the Ledger family for 30 years – said last week that Mike and Hayden's allegations about Kim were 'rubbish'.



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Thursday 20 March 2008

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