Heath Ledger was acclaimed as a great actor and tragically his life was cut short at a very young age.  I do not know much about his estate planning documents, but I have read that they were done prior to the birth of his child and did not provide for his daughter.  I have also read that Mr. Ledger’s father has indicated that the family will financially support Heath’s daughter.

Were Mr. Ledger a resident of the State of California at his death – Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County, or anywhere else, his daughter would have received a portion of his estate by operation of statute.  Section 21620 of the California Probate Code provides as follows:

            “Except as provided in Section 21621, if a decedent fails to provide in a    testamentary instrument for a child of decedent born or adopted after the   execution of all of the decedent’s testamentary instruments, the omitted child shall      receive a share in the decedent’s estate equal in value to that which the child          would have received if the decedent had died without having executed any       testamentary instrument.”

Thus in California, under the laws of intestacy, or intestate succession, Matilda would receive the entire estate.  Questions would remain as to how the estate would be managed and whether she would get everything that had not been previously spent at age 18.  Obviously, there might be a lot of money to give to an 18 year old.

All of this points to the necessity of estate planning.  Young people are not immune.  Older people need to constantly revisit their estate plans as circumstances change including values of the estate; financial situations of their children; marital situations of their children, etc.

In the event that it has been some time since you have reviewed your estate plan with your attorney, it is a good idea to do so.