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From the charming bad boy in 10 Things I Hate About You to the Oscar-nominated cowboy in Brokeback Mountain and the iconic Joker in The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger built one of the most promising careers in Hollywood in less than a decade. But when he died at 28, his will was outdated and left nothing to her daughter.
When Ledger signed his will in April 2003, he was 24 years old, and he had not yet met actress Michelle Williams. His daughter, Matilda Ledger, would not be born for another two years.
But that document was never updated and left everything to his parents, Kim Ledger and Sally Bell, and his three sisters, Kate, Olivia, and Ashleigh.
Ledger and Williams met while filming Brokeback Mountain, and Matilda was born in New York on October 28, 2005. The couple separated in 2007.
The fortune Ledger left when he died
When Ledger signed the will, it listed only about $118,000 in assets and cash. But his career took off in the following years, with an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain and his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.
When he died, at 28, his estate was estimated at more than $16.3 million.
The family’s final decision involving Matilda and Ledger’s will
Because the will left everything to his parents and sisters, many expected a legal battle. There was speculation that Williams would go to court to claim a share of the fortune for Matilda, but that fight never happened.
“Our family has gifted everything to Matilda,” the actor’s father, Kim Ledger, said in 2008. “There was never any question about the fact that Heath’s estate would go to Matilda. Never a question.”
Ledger’s family quickly made it clear that the money belonged to his daughter. By September 2008, the family had confirmed that Matilda would receive the estate. The executor, Adelaide accountant Mark Dyson, never revealed the exact amount she inherited.
The three stars that donated their paychecks to Matilda Ledger
Ledger was filming Terry Gillam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus when he died. To finish the movie, Johny Deep, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell each played a version of his character, Tony.
The three actors reportedly donated their fees to Matilda. The film was finally released in 2009.