Heath Ledger's family is being accused of not being honest when it comes to the assets that Heath Ledger had when he died. According to the Sydney Sunday Telegraph, papers filed in New York listed the total assets of Heath Ledger at $145,000 when he died. The documents, according to the newspaper, list furniture and fixtures worth $20,000, a Toyota Prius worth $25,000 and $100,000 in miscellaneous bank accounts. That's it. A guy who earned millions in his career has $145,000 to show for it.
Michelle Williams' dad thinks it is a bunch of crap and that the Ledger family, with Heath's dad specifically trying to hide the rest of the loot. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Williams, a well-known stock trader, urged the Ledger family to "come clean with everything" and asked Heath's father Kim "to say where the income went and where the assets are. ... I have no idea what Heath Ledger was worth [but] they certainly haven't stated all of the assets to the court."
It is kind of hard to believe that Heath did not have more assets. It's not like he was a guy who was going out and spending a fortune each and every night. Now, it is possible that these are all the assets they have found as of the time the papers were filed. Often it takes several months to find where people had their money, or stocks or anything else they owned. Even if they had an accountant, it is not always easy to find where the assets were put. The good thing about this situation though is that because Heath did have a business manager and an accountant, they will probably be able to account for almost every penny and hopefully make both sides happy.
Did he not have to file some sort of taxes in any country the year he died for the previous years work? That should indicate where he had investments, at least.
ReplyDeletei think both sides should be ashamed for airing this in public from what i've read.
ReplyDeletesomething is going on, there is no way a man who was set to open Batman had only $145GS to his name.
What does her dad care? Matilda has a higher net worth than everyone on this board combined and she cant change her own diaper.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't Heath's family want to leave all his money in trust for his daughter?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteher dad is currently on the run and hiding out fromt he US tax man for evasion or shoddy trading or something. It's really not his business.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Jax; it's not Michelle's dad's business. Mathilda is Heath's next-of-kin and that means that whatever he had, is hers. Period.
ReplyDeleteI think he's probably speaking up so Michelle won't have to do it herself. She needs a damn good lawyer. ENT??????
ReplyDeleteThe estate has 9 months to file the federal estate tax return and if they don't disclose & the government finds out later, its a really big deal and penalties start at 5% per month. When you're talking estate tax at 45% of everything over $2 million, it gets expensive in a real short amount of time. Whoever signs that return had better be prepared for an audit & extensive asset searches by the IRS.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, is her Michelle's dad in any position to talk? Heath left everything to his parents and sister. I don't think it's anyone else's business how much he left them, though they should take care of Matilda.
ReplyDeleteYou people are forgetting Heath's will, which left everything to his parents. The will pre-dated the relationship with Michelle and the birth of Matilda. Wills need to be kept up to date - the baby is not entitled to anything.
ReplyDeleteThe Ledger family said they would take care of Matilda, but if they are hiding the assets, she's going to get very little. Ledger's dad has been accused by his own brothers of mishandling his own father's fortune, and it's quite right that Matilda's other Grandpa should speak up on her behalf.
Matilda is worth precisely nothing unless the Ledgers choose to give her something.
I am confused, is Matilda getting everything b/c she is the next of kin, or do they have to go by the will (drafted before he was even with Michelle)and give everything to his parents and family?
ReplyDeleteThat's correct....the will was old and left everything to his family. Someone will have to go to court on Matilda's behalf if she's to get anything, and for all we know, Heath's family agreed to give her a percentage and they're saying all they have is the $145K. If that's the case, SOMEONE has to become this little girls advocate.
ReplyDeleteWill SUCK by the way, a living trust is much better and you don't lose a big chunk of your belongings in probate.
ms-wonderland you answered my question as I was typing it!
ReplyDeleteI would think that Michelle Williams can contest the will on behalf of her daughter.
ReplyDeleteKim, Matilda would only be getting everything if there was no will, as Heath's next of kin. Since there WAS a will, leaving her out, she will have to contest the will by going to court.
ReplyDeleteYes, matilda was left out of the will, but she could still take the estate to court, since the will predated her conception. Unless she has an unbelievable relationship with the Ledgers, Michelle should contemplate doing this immediately, just to get everything straightened out and settled and done.
ReplyDeleteWe are forgetting that Michelle is an Oscar nominee herself. I'm sure she makes MORE than enough money to be able to support her daughter. Come on. She probably makes more money for each movie than most people make in their entire lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThat's not the point. If people followed that line of thinking then no actresses would ever get child support when they get a divorce.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think this needs to be justified, does it? Matilda is Heath's daughter and she should be taken care of.
agreed, fight off the vulchers and let the man rest in peace.
ReplyDeletetake what the extended family's word with a grain of salt, they have been estranged for years and weren't even at the funeral. we've all seen this in our own famillies when soneone dies.
Does anyone know anything about estate taxes in NY?
ReplyDeleteAnna Nicole didn't update her will after Dannielyn was born either, and the baby is now the sole heir.
ReplyDeleteMatilda should have an advocate NOW in court to contest the will on her behalf, no court in the entire world would award the estate to his family over his child, no matter what the outdated will said. No one in their right mind would believe Heath would not have want his baby to inherit everything-she's entitled to it. And it does not matter what Michelle makes or will make, Heaths estate will make her independant of Michelle once she reaches legal age.
They should contest it NOW because it is clear to me that Kim Ledger is hiding assets because he knows a court will eventually rule in favor of Matilda inheriting. Trust, it's a given.
And they're already showing how full of it they are by claiming he was only worth $145K.
ReplyDeletei thought that the money amount was only what he had in the US and not what he had in other countries like his home country of Australia
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteExactly twisted sister. Unless Kim Ledger can show how and where Heath blew all those millions he made, he's in a lot of trouble. Perhaps Heath had a lot of money tied up in real estate, but in that case, it would have been included in the total value of his assets.
ReplyDeleteIt's perfectly reasonable to suspect the dad is being dishonest because he was removed as executor of his own father's will. Court's do no do this willy nilly, there has to be a damn good reason that is properly documented to the courts satisfaction.
Can people please keep in mind - before it becomes nauseatingly annoying - that via her big bucks-earning mother, Matilda is not going to be the world's most destitute child ANYway.
ReplyDeleteKim Ledger, whatever his faults, is hardly going to cut his precious son's daughter off, it makes no sense. And even if he does, Michelle's career and family will take care of Matilda and probably half the rest of the world's kids on the money they've made. Michelle is certainly going to be savvy enough to keep Matilda in clover and probably moreso if Heath was slap-happy with his own money.
I know Matilda has a right to her father's estate but please keep it real. This child is never going to be in poverty street in a million years.
These figures for his assets were first published as his total assets in 2003, at the time the will that was written, before Matilda was born and before Brokeback Mountain.
ReplyDeleteThen the same amounts resurfaced this weekend as his total assets when he died.
Makes me wonder if this weekend was slow newswise in Australia.
i don't think Kim Ledger is hiding anything ..yet. If i kicked it tomorrow my dad would be clueless as to where all my finances are at.
ReplyDeletewhen you're that young you don't plan to die right away and therefor a lot of info is missing or not in order...like updating your will to include your daughter that was TWO when you died.
i'm saving my judgement for when we have solid facts.estates take a longggg ass time.
maybe the $145Gs was leaked to throw off the vulchers. let's see who sticks around when they aren't milllions to squander.
uber*nought, no one is saying Matilda will be destitute, that is not the point. The point is what is fair. Heath's own child is entitled to benefit from his success moreso than his parents. It's the way of the world and perfectly reasonable.
ReplyDeleteUber, we are aware. WTF does that have to do with anything?????? A person dies and their estate should go to the next of kin - not others in the family who aren't as well off.
ReplyDeletegirlfight!
ReplyDeleteLMAO @ Jax. Ya smartass.
ReplyDeleteSorry, it just galls me that someone who posts nothing but complaints here about EL, this blog, EL's posts now comes on and is preaching to us all because something that someone else has already posted isn't being considered.
The last time someone said, "Can you people please keep in mind..." to me, I was in high school.
And it doesn't do Uber any favors to add, "...before it becomes nauseatingly annoying"....when he or she seems nauseatingly annoyed by so many things.
Let's see, did I leave anything else out? ;-P
word...
ReplyDeleteoh and zero sighting on Sat for Depp n Farell. i think we was had!
not even sure if Johnny is still in town but we saw a couple other local celebs. good times all around.
Oh, I forgot all about that. Damn. Well, maybe he read our comments here and changed plans...lol.
ReplyDeleteGood times - that's more important anyway.
matilda should get everything. heath had more than a million in assets i'm sure. don't forget, depending on the deals he had in place, the estate will continue to make money.
ReplyDeleteTwisted, you're the only one I know who knows that! About wills being nothing more than a set of instructions to the probate court.
ReplyDeleteNow, since he didn't have a living trust...his assets would become public knowledge, no? The living trust would have provided only an abstract, but since it's in probate....
so, now, speaking of the vultures...will it be easier to make a claim against the estate in probate court because there was no living trust, or no?
Ragdoll, yes, wills become a public record when they go into probate, but living trusts are never made public - so score one more point for a living trust.
ReplyDeleteI know this because my father was a lawyer and my brother does estate planning. In other words, I cheated...lol.
People can claim all they want, but they'll probably find Matilda the sole heir, or name her as getting most of his proceeds.
i may be totally out of line on this one, but could heath have blown some of his money on drugs? i know the autopsy showed only prescription drugs in his system, but haven't gossips been talking about his drug habit for a long time? and didn't lainey confirm on the day of his death that heath was the answer to her blind about the star who was doing boatloads of coke all by himself -- enough, she said, that his heart wouldn't be able to take it?
ReplyDeletei know we're talking about his will here, but i'm wondering how much money some one could go through if they're partying hard -- any ideas? i'm not being sarcastic -- i really am i'm clueless about this stuff...
no matter what, it's pretty sad that he hadn't prepared a will precisely because people do get all weird when there's a death in the family and money is involved; it would have spared michelle and matilda having to deal with this ugliness.
I've seen the most religious,loving, caring families ripped to shreds by even a fraction of $145k. It's sick.
ReplyDeleteI thought I read a while ago that the $145k was his total US assets - that most of his money was in Australia?
ReplyDelete