Heath Ledger's uncles tell of family rift

Heath Ledger's uncles tell of family rift
Article from: AAP

Colleen Egan

March 15, 2008 05:00pm

AN uncle of fallen Hollywood star Heath Ledger has revealed his dismay over a long-running feud with the actor's father that tore apart the family.

Haydn Ledger said he and his brother, Mike, would never have spoken about the bitter dispute while Heath was alive because they did not want to ``muddy'' his life.

They felt a responsibility to warn against Kim Ledger being involved in managing the actor's estate, having supported a marathon court action over their late grandfather's finances.

Kim took over the affairs of Sir Frank Ledger in 1986 and plunged the old man into debt before a Supreme Court judge removed his control over the $2 million estate.

Kim's brothers and cousins helped to fund the long-running law suit because they disagreed with how Sir Frank had been dealt with.

"What's hurtful is the way that our close family was torn apart by the decisions of one brother,'' Haydn told The Sunday Times.

"As brothers we have held out many an invitation to Kim to bury the hatchet but he hasn't chosen to take them.

"It's been portrayed as sour grapes but this has only come about by two brothers offering their opinion when it was asked for by Larry Williams.''

Mr Williams, the father of Hollywood actress Michelle Williams, telephoned the Ledger brothers in the wake of the actor's death.

A 2003 will signed by Ledger, which names his father, mother and sisters as beneficiaries, was drawn up before he fell in love with ``Brokeback Mountain'' co-star Ms Williams, who is the mother of Ledger's two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

"Kim's history with our grandfather's estate is on the public record and I suspect Larry Williams already knew there should be concerns, he was just looking for confirmation,'' Haydn said.

"Once Heath got up and going, we were just so proud of him and we didn't want to do anything to muddy his career. We had enormous respect for him.

"If these events hadn't happened, we would never have said anything publicly about Kim.''

Mike Ledger said he only wanted to place on record that his family would never make any claims on Heath's Hollywood earnings.

"We are not at all entitled to anything from Heath's estate and we were never entitled to anything from our grandfather's estate,'' he said.

"The money is not an issue and it never has been.

"We're not hunting for anything. That belongs to Matilda.''

Kim Ledger was not available for comment yesterday but he has previously stated that Ms Williams and Matilda would be ``taken care of''.

"Matilda is our absolute priority, and Michelle is an integral part of our family,'' he said.

"It is sad at this extremely difficult time in our lives, while we are grieving the loss of our beloved son, that estranged family members publicly discuss matters they have not been privy to in the past or now.

"We hope for Matilda's sake they will remain dignified.''

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23381560-948,00.html

Thanks for article. hope thing are resovled.

i hope that they 'll be taken care of matilda,michelle because we know how much heath loved them so so much
from his deeply deeply heart