David Hallyday who renounced his father’s heritage ‘thanked God’ the family dispute was finally over

The son of French superstar Johnny Hallyday has shared his relief after finally resolving the bitter dispute with his stepmother over the late singer’s multi-million pound fortune.

Speaking on French radio station RTL, David Hallyday, 54, who is also the son of singer Sylvie Vartan, said he ‘thanked God’ the family’s legal battle was finally over following a two-year fight. 

David said the row following the singer’s death in December 2017 from lung cancer, when aged 74, now belonged in ‘the past’ and that there were bigger social issues to worry about. 

The singer’s eldest children, David and his sister Laura Smet, 36, decided to contest Hallyday’s will, which left his entire estate – originally estimated at €100million – to his widow Laeticia and their two adopted daughters. 

Laeticia’s lawyers announced in July that a ‘definitive agreement’ had been reached between her and her late husband’s children. No details of the accord were disclosed.

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David Hallyday, 54, who is the son of French singers Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, ‘thanked God’ the bitter family dispute over his father’s will was finally over (David and his father pictured in Paris in 2002)

Hallyday had left all his fortune, initially estimated at ¿100million (£91,043,658) to his wife Laeticia (pictured with him in 2016) and their two adopted daughters Jade, 16 and Joy, 12

Hallyday had left all his fortune, initially estimated at €100million (£91,043,658) to his wife Laeticia (pictured with him in 2016) and their two adopted daughters Jade, 16 and Joy, 12

The row was sparked after it was discovered Hallyday had signed a US will that left all of his fortune, initially estimated at €100million (£91,043,658), to his wife Laeticia, 44, and their two adopted daughters, Jade, 16, and Joy, 12. 

David and his sister Laura Smet, 36, were excluded from the will, which was contrary to French Law, where children automatically inherit from their parents. 

Earlier this year, David, a musician and F1 enthusiast, who is father to Ilona, 25, and Emma, 22, renounced his father’s heritage after his stepmother Laeticia and his sister finally reached a compromise over the late singer’s estate. 

It was announced in early July that Laeticia Hallyday had inherited the singer’s properties, to the estimated value of €28 to €34million, and an undisclosed amount in cash.

The amount had initially been thought to reach €100million, but was later revised down to €38 million, after it was found that the value of his properties and royalties had been overestimated.

While Laeticia won the battle, she also inherited Johnny’s hefty tax debts, which he accumulated throughout his life and are thought to be ‘around’ €30million.

Laeticia with Joy and Jade, Laura Smet, 36, and David Hallyday at Johnny Hallyday's funeral in Paris in December 2017

Laeticia with Joy and Jade, Laura Smet, 36, and David Hallyday at Johnny Hallyday’s funeral in Paris in December 2017

Speaking this week about the settlement, David, who has kept a low profile during the row, said the dispute was now ‘in the past.’

‘It’s something that’s private and very personal, I have nothing more to say about this,’ he said.  ‘Thank God it’s over, and between you and me, I think people are really fed up with this.’

David said he felt the people of France had other things to think about, including the financial downfall sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.  

The musician, who played with his father often on stage and in the recording booth, added he hoped people would remember the late star for his enormous musical talents and not his will.

David said he intended to still ‘have his say’ over his father’s musical legacy. He pointed out that, having also worked in the music industry, he would always be able to share his ‘benevolent’ opinion on his father’s career and the future of his estate.     

Laeticia Hallyday officially inherited the singer's properties, to the estimated value of ¿28 to ¿34million, and an undisclosed amount in cash (pictured with Jade, right and Joy, left, at Johnny's funeral in 2017)

Laeticia Hallyday officially inherited the singer’s properties, to the estimated value of €28 to €34million, and an undisclosed amount in cash (pictured with Jade, right and Joy, left, at Johnny’s funeral in 2017)

David and Laura Smet holding hands at their father's funeral. The family had announced their wish to move on from the row

David and Laura Smet holding hands at their father’s funeral. The family had announced their wish to move on from the row 

The will had been drafted in the US, where Hallyday was then living with Laeticia and their two adopted daughters, and did not comply with French law, where children have automatic succession rights.

A bitter legal battle ensued, with Laeticia provoking further outrage last year by announcing plans to have the singer exhumed and placed in her family vault – a move that saw her branded the ‘wicked stepmother’ by French magazines.

However, Laeticia’s lawyers announced in July, that a ‘definitive agreement’ had been reached between Hallyday and her late husband’s children, a journalist for French TV channel M6 reported on Twitter. 

David was born from Johnny Hallyday’s first marriage to singer Sylvie Vartan, while Laura is the daughter of Nathalie Baye, a famous French actress who had a torrid love affair with Hallyday after the end of his marriage to Vartan from 1982 to 1985.