Kim Ledger Photo by: Bauer Griffin |
Could the story be true? It has been years since Heath's uncles have had contact with Kim's side of the family. What no one disputes is that Heath left his family in Perth around the time the woman became pregnant, traveling cross-country to Sydney to launch his career as an actor. "He wanted to find out a bit about himself," says a close friend. By 1998 he had relocated to Hollywood – and only made brief visits home. A source close to Heath says the actor would never abandon a baby on the other side of the world. "That man wouldn't have been capable of having a child whom he couldn't love and cherish with every bone in his body," says the source.
The controversy has arisen amid fierce fighting between Kim Ledger and his brothers, who say he squandered some of the family wealth and are concerned he will do the same to his son's estate. (Drawn up before his relationship with Williams, Ledger's will names his parents and three sisters as his beneficiaries; Kim maintains that Matilda and Michelle "will be taken care of.") "He mismanaged an estate so much it plunged into enormous debt," says Mike Ledger. "Our only vested interest is to assure that Matilda is well looked after." Robert John Collins, the will's Australian coexecutor, says the uncles' claims that Matilda won't be provided for are "rubbish."
