Could Health Ledger’s “legacy” be teaching the public about the pretermitted child statute?

As reported earlier on this blog, Heath’s will was drafted before he the birth of his daughter, Matilda, and left his estate to his parents and siblings.

For a discussion of how Matilda could be entitled to his entire estate to the total exclusion of his parents by the application of a pretermitted child statute, see Joanna Grossman (Professor of Law & Associate Dean for Faculty Development, Hofstra Law) & Mitchell Gans (Steven A. Horowitz Distinguished Professor of Tax Law, Hofstra Law), Heath Ledger’s Estate: Why Daughter Matilda, Who Was Left Nothing in Her Father’s Will, Might Have a Claim to Everything (Part 1 (May 12, 2008) & Part 2 (May 13, 2008)).

Here are some excerpts from their articles:

[Heath Ledger and Brokeback Mountain] co-star Michelle Williams hooked up and became parents of a daughter, Matilda, in 2005. (Ledger and Williams never married and had broken off their relationship before Ledger died.) Ledger thus left behind a young daughter and an estate with potential complications worthy of a law school exam question. In this two-part series, we will examine the proper disposition of Ledger’s estate, focusing primarily on one ultimate question: Could Matilda, who was left nothing in Ledger’s will, actually inherit everything in the end?

Ledger’s entire estate could pass to his daughter even though she was omitted from his Will (probably inadvertently, as it was written prior to her birth). Her right to inherit, if any, will turn on where Ledger was domiciled at his death, which jurisdiction’s laws govern his estate, and even whether tabloid reports that Ledger fathered another child many years earlier are true.

Special thanks to Prof. Paul Caron for bringing these articles to my attention.