A former lawyer for Australian actor Heath Ledger is suing over a $US10 million ($A12 million) life insurance policy he claims has gone unpaid since the actor's death earlier this year.
John S LaViolette sued Minnesota-based ReliaStar Life Insurance Co in July, claiming the company is trying to avoid paying the claim to Ledger's two-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose.
The lawsuit 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 City.
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 lawsuit was removed from Los Angeles Superior Court to federal court in August.
"We have not rendered a decision on this claim," said Dana Ripley, a spokesman for ING Americas, which owns ReliaStar. He said he could not comment on specifics about the lawsuit or Ledger's policy.
"This is a very private and confidential matter," he said.
William Shernoff, the lawyer representing LaViolette and Matilda Rose, said ReliaStar has told him it will 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.
The insurance company's lawyers also want to question Ledger's co-stars, agents and doctors, Shernoff said.
"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 in a press release.
He accused the insurer of trying to drag out the payment process, saying the lawsuit could take years to resolve.
Shernoff said Ledger's death had been thoroughly investigated and ReliaStar's suggestion that it may have been suicide was improper.
"There's not a shred of evidence it was suicide," Shernoff said.
A scheduling conference for the case has been set down for December 1.
Ledger met Michelle Williams on the set of the 2005 film, Brokeback Mountain, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. The couple had a daughter, Matilda Rose, and lived together in Brooklyn until they split up last year.
Ledger father said in weekend media reports Matilda Rose will inherit all her father's estate.
Ledger had signed his will before Matilda's birth, leaving all his assets to his parents and three sisters, but Kim Ledger said the family had given all the money to Matilda and Williams made no claim for it.
The will listed assets and cash of $US118,000 ($A142,000), but Ledger's estate is believed to be worth more than $US16.3 million ($A19.7 million), the reports said.
Accountant Mark Dyson, an executor of the estate, said he could not reveal how much Matilda would inherit.