Cory Monteith left no will when he tragically died at the age of 31 in July 2013. Now, 18 months after his death, his family are trying to work out the details of his estimated $810,000 estate – and it seems his father Joe Monteith could lose any claim he had on the fortune after admitting he was not in touch with his son for the majority of his life.
Cory's mother Ann McGregor looks set to inherit the bulk of the Glee star’s estate after Joe confirmed he had left abandoned his son at a young age, and had also failed to make child payments.
In new court documents obtained by TMZ, Joe reportedly admitted to not communicating with Cory from the time he was "nine years old until his twenties", as well as not making payments to his ex-wife, who raised Cory and his older brother on her own. His admission has led Ann to claim that under law, Joe should be blocked from receiving any money from their son's accounts.
In July 2014, one year after Cory's death, Ann spoke publicly for the first time about her "horrendous" loss. "Until three days ago, I couldn't look at a picture of Cory so there's been progress," she told Good Morning America.
She also revealed that Cory's battle with addiction started in his teenage years; when he was 15, he had an overdose, which Ann said was not unrelated to Joe's absence.
"He had a lot of emotional things he was trying to figure out," she said. "A lot of it was he really wanted a relationship with his father. I think when a child gets invalidated they keep reaching even harder. "
They want to find out why. "I remember after Cory’s first OD, the drive we took. All I did was stare into his eyes and hug him and look at him because I had this feeling, I really want him to know, because I'm not going to have him my entire life."
"Joe, who was not invited to attend Cory's funeral, also remembered his son on the first anniversary of his death. "I still miss him very much and I still have that empty feeling," he told ET Canada. "Cory was a likeable young man and if he was in the room, you'd be smiling. "He enjoyed life. That's why I was so shocked about the outcome of everything."