Above all else, Heath Ledger's death was a lesson for us all that we should all get our affairs in order before we accidentally overdose on a deadly cocktail of prescription medicine while naked.
Because Heath Ledger didn't do that at all, which means his daughter Matilda has been left out of his will completely.
But rather than tear the Ledger family apart, as is usually the case when a celebrity dies with an out-of-date will, Heath Ledger's father has said that Matilda is the family's highest interest and that she will be 'looked after'. At least we think that's what he said. He was a little out of breath from shovelling all those shoe boxes of cash underneath the floorboards at the time.
If you ever want a perfect example of how to balls up your own death, look no further than James Brown. As sad as it was when James Brown died, it was nothing compared to the revelation that he had about 700 children and they all wanted a slice of his money. While they fought over the will, James Brown rotted away unburied in a corner of his house.
And, as Heath Ledger was often known as 'the white, Australian, young, unfunky, non-musical James Brown' before his death in January, it was only natural that he'd have an equally out-of-date will. As it turns out, that was completely the case. According to reports Heath Ledger's will was written in 2003, long before he got together with Michelle Williams or had his daughter Matilda.
As such, the will splits all of Heath Ledger's assets between his parents and siblings, missing out Williams and Matilda completely. However, knowing that raising a baby on the acting salary of Michelle Williams alone would result in starvation and probably death, Heath Ledger's father has stepped in to promise that Matilda will get her rightful share. MSNBC reports:
After documents filed in Manhattan Surrogate's Court revealed that Heath Ledger's will left all his assets to his parents and siblings, the Ledger family is speaking out. "Matilda is our absolute priority and Michelle is an integral part of our family," Heath's father, Kim Ledger, said in a statement to the media. "They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be." … Ledger's rep quickly put to rest any speculation that Matilda and Michelle Williams would not be provided for, telling People, "The story is getting taken out of context and media is speculating that this means Matilda and Michelle will not be taken care of. I want to make it very clear nothing could be farther from the truth."
And that's it. No lengthy legal battles, no whispers of conspiracy, no reported videos of gay sex. Just a nice, normal, friendly agreement that makes quite a lot of sense for everyone involved. It's disgraceful. Everyone knows that when a celebrity dies, the surviving relatives should spend at least a fortnight tugging on the limbs of the corpse trying to get a bigger slice of the estate. That's the law.
And because that didn't happen, we're going to have to stop thinking of Heath Ledger as a celebrity at all. Not like Anna Nicole Smith who, according to our freakishly impaired logic, is now more famous than Jesus and Elvis Presley combined.
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Theresa says
I don’t know about New York, but in many states, a Will is automatically voided by certain changes in circumstances – one of them being the birth of a child.