Insurance Co. denying to pay $ 12 m claim to Ledgers daughter
News
oi-Staff
By Super Admin
Melbourne
(ANI):
Just
when
the
late
actor
Heath
Ledger's
family
confirmed
that
his
2-year-old
daughter,
Matilda
Rose,
will
inherit
all
of
her
father's
estate,
a
lawsuit
has
revealed
that
an
insurance
company
is
trying
to
avoid
paying
a
12
million
dollars
claim
to
her.
A
former
attorney
for
Ledger,
John
S.
LaViolette,
sued
Minnesota-based
ReliaStar
Life
Insurance
Co.
in
July,
saying
the
company
is
trying
to
avoid
paying
the
claim,
according
to
the
Daily
Telegraph.
The
court
case
doesn't
mention
Ledger
or
his
daughter's
name,
but
says
it
is
on
behalf
of
a
man
who
died
of
"accidental
causes
on
January
22,
2008".
That
is
the
date
the
28-year-old
actor
was
found
dead
of
an
apparent
accidental
prescription
drug
overdose
in
New
York.
ReliaStar
states
in
its
legal
response
it
is
seeking
more
information
about
whether
Ledger
may
have
lied
on
paperwork
and
about
whether
his
death
may
have
been
a
suicide.
LaViolette's
lawsuit
claims
ReliaStar
had
to
investigate
any
statements
Ledger
made
in
paperwork
while
the
actor
was
still
alive.
The
case
was
removed
from
Los
Angeles
Superior
Court
to
federal
court
in
August.
"We
have
not
rendered
a
decision
on
this
claim," News.com.au
quoted
Dana
Ripley,
a
spokesman
for
ING
Americas,
which
owns
ReliaStar,
as
saying.
William
Shernoff,
the
lawyer
representing
LaViolette
and
Matilda
Rose,
said
ReliaStar
has
told
him
it
would
seek
the
depositions
of
a
masseuse
who
found
Ledger's
body
and
of
actress
Mary-Kate
Olsen,
who
received
a
flurry
of
phone
calls
after
the
body
was
found.
Shernoff
said
that
the
insurance
company's
lawyers
also
want
to
question
Ledger's
co-stars,
agents
and
doctors.
"There's
a
young
girl
whose
father
died
who
is
entitled
to
this
money,
and
ReliaStar
is
doing
everything
it
can
to
avoid
paying," Shernoff
said.
He
accused
the
insurer
of
trying
to
drag
out
the
payment
process,
saying
the
lawsuit
could
take
years
to
resolve.