A US insurance company is refusing to pay out a $12m life insurance policy to Heath Ledger's daughter on the grounds that the Australian star may have taken his own life.
Ledger's lawyer John LaViolette sued Minnesota-based ReliaStar Life Insurance Company in July, claiming the company is trying to avoid paying the claim to Ledger's young daughter, Matilda Rose.
According to website tmz.com, ReliaStar is stalling on grounds the actor's death may have been a suicide, which would void any claim.
The New York Medical Examiner ruled in February that Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription medication.
But the insurance company still believed the death was "suspicious", the website claimed.
"ReliaStar is entitled to investigate Plaintiff's claim to determine if the 'Suicide' provision is applicable," the company said in its answer to the lawsuit.
It is also reportedly investigating whether Ledger lied about what prescription medication he was on when he signed up to the policy.
The lawsuit doesn't mention Ledger or his daughter's name. It states that it's on behalf of a man who died of "accidental causes on January 22, 2008."
This is the day Ledger was found dead lying naked on his floor in his New York apartment.
William Shernoff, the lawyer representing Mr 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, Mr 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," Mr 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.
A spokesman for ReliaStar says the insurer has made no decision about whether to pay the claim.
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.
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