HAWKE FAMILY FEUD OVER!
The late PM’S wife and daughter finally come to an agreement over his will
As Blanche d’alpuget continues her breast cancer battle, her legal dispute with her late husband Bob Hawke’s troubled daughter Rosslyn Dillon has come to a peaceful conclusion.
It was the testy court battle that had driven a wedge between Bob’s youngest daughter and his second wife Blanche.
But now, just over a year since the former prime minister’s passing, Rosslyn has quietly settled her battle with her stepmother, 76, putting to bed a seven-month legal dispute over Bob’s multimillion-dollar estate.
Rosslyn, the youngest of Bob’s three living children with late first wife Hazel Hawke, signed off on the settlement late last month, which saw her walk away with just $40,000.
It’s a far cry from the $4.2 million Ros initially demanded, which she insisted was to help her pay for a $2.5 million home in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs – which came furnished with towels worth $4000 – and a new set of teeth worth $30,000.
The case, which was entrenched in bitterness, particularly after Ros explosively claimed she had been raped by Bob’s friend, former Labor MP Bill Landeryou, in the 1980s, was mediated after former Hawke government minister Graham Richardson and his wife Amanda stepped in.
“It’s so sad to see this kind of fight over money,” Graham told the media.
“Both Blanche and Ros aren’t in great shape health-wise and they really didn’t need this to be dragging on.”
While the settlement was way below her initial claim, Ros, who has battled addiction as well as depression and PTSD, wished her stepmother a speedy recovery as she enters her third month of chemotherapy for breast cancer.
“I am relieved that the matter has been resolved and wish Blanche well in her recovery,” the 60-year-old said last week.
Blanche shockingly announced she had been diagnosed with cancer in April after finding a lump in her breast by accident in February.
Ros walks away with $40,000 on top of the $750,000 that was originally granted to her, along with her surviving siblings – Susan Pieters-hawke, 63 and Stephen Hawke, 61, as well as Blanche’s son from her first marriage, Louis Pratt, 47 – as dictated in her dad’s will.
Blanche secured the lion’s share of his estate, worth around $10 million, but will reportedly pay for all of Ros’ legal fees.
‘It’s so sad to see this kind of fight over money’