Two months after the death of former prime minister Bob Hawke, his daughter Rosslyn Dillon is preparing to take legal action against his second wife Blanche d'Alpuget over his will.
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Mr Hawke reportedly gave $750,000 to each of his three children, including Ms Dillon, but left the rest of his estate, including the proceeds of the sale of his $15 million home on the water in the Sydney suburb of Northbridge to Ms d'Alpuget, The New Daily has reported.
Ms Dillon reportedly wants a greater share of her father's estate and has engaged a specialist family law firm Tiyce & Lawyers to act on her behalf. The firm has been contacted for comment.
Mr Hawke and Ms d'Alpuget, his biographer, had a long affair while Mr Hawke remained married to his first wife Hazel Hawke.
Relations between Ms d'Alpuget and her stepchildren have shown signs of strain in the decades since she and Mr Hawke married in 1995.
When Ms Hawke died in 2013, her children did not invite Ms d'Alpuget to the funeral.
And at Mr Hawke's funeral in June, Ms d'Alpuget mentioned his daughter Susan Pieters-Hawke by name but not his son Stephen Hawke nor Ms Dillon.
Ms Pieters-Hawke and Stephen Hawke reportedly received the $750,000 along with Ms d'Alpuget's son Louis Pratt and Ms Dillon in an agreement separate to the Labor legend's will.
Mr Hawke famously cried on national television while discussing Ms Dillon's descent into drug use in 1984. She later recovered.
In 2013, Ms d'Alpuget told the Herald and The Age she had organised her and her husband's tombstones in order to avoid any disputes or confusion about their wishes once they had died.
"Once you're dead, you have no say over what happens and I don't want the family to be left in a quandary over what to do with one or both of us," Ms d'Alpuget said.
- SMH/The Age
