Vanessa Amorosi’s estranged mother has asked to be reunited with her baby grandson and to be “one big happy family” with her daughter again as their long-running feud heads back to court.
Joyleen Robinson and her pop star daughter have spent the past three years locked in a bitter legal dispute over two properties.
Ms Amorosi, 43, launched legal action in 2021 to sue her mother for full ownership of two homes, one in Narre Warren in Melbourne and the other in California, bought as a result of her success, which were held in a trust listing both women as owners.
The pop singer scored a major legal victory last month when a judge ruled in her favor that she should be the sole owner of the properties, finding that an alleged informal agreement over their ownership never occurred.
The case will return to court on Wednesday. Ms Robinson said she hoped the saga would bring the family together and that she would finally be able to meet Amorosi’s eight-year-old son, Killian.
This comes despite the fact that she now faces eviction from the Narre Warren home and has not spoken to her daughter in more than a decade.
“I’m still hoping that something good will come out of this. The outcome I would like is for us all to be happy and be one big family,” Ms Robinson said. he told the Herald Sun.
‘I would love to have contact with my daughter and my grandson. I haven’t met him yet, it’s a bit sad but that’s life.
“I just hope we can come up with something that’s good for all of us.”
She added that the family used to do “everything together,” but that changed when Amorosi moved to Los Angeles to pursue an international music career.
Mrs Robinson said she would never do “anything to defame” or “bewitch” her daughter, who has now taken possession of her home.
EM The court ordered Amorosi to pay his mother more than $850,000 for the Boundary Road property in Narre Warren which is now valued at $2 million.
The amount covered the original purchase price of $650,000 and another $219,486 in interest.
However, plans for Ms Robinson to hand over control of the two properties have been delayed while lawyers continue to negotiate terms and decide who will be responsible for paying court costs.
Ms Robinson said she had “no idea” where the lawyers were regarding reaching a settlement.
She added that “my children are the most important thing in my life” and that she was “very sorry” about the drama that played out in court and made headlines.
Ms Amorosi, known for her hit song Absolutely Everybody, scored a major legal victory this month when a judge ruled in her favour that she should be the sole owner of the two properties.
On August 8, Supreme Court Justice Steven Moore gave both sides fifteen days to work together on drafting orders that would affect his sentencing in a “manageable” way.
But when the case returned to the Victorian Supreme Court last week, Amorosi’s lawyer Joel Fetter said “discussions had been initiated” but no agreement had been reached.
He told the court that both sides were asking for another week to see if they could “come to an agreement.”
Judge Moore accepted the motion but warned that he would issue the orders if they failed to “resolve” the handover of the property, and the case would return to court next Wednesday.
“If they cannot agree on such arrangements, my task is to issue orders to give effect to the judgment,” he said.
‘I encourage the parties to reach a manageable agreement in their constructive dialogue.’
The 43-year-old Australian pop star launched legal action in 2021 to sue her mother Joyleen Robinson (pictured) for full ownership of two homes purchased as a result of her success.
The properties in dispute were an eight-hectare semi-rural property at Narre Warren, south-east of Melbourne, and Amorosi’s current residence in California.
Ms Amorosi claimed the $650,000 used to buy the Narre Warren home in 2001 came from a trust set up to receive all of her earnings as a singer-songwriter.
However, Ms Robinson alleged that Amorosi agreed to hand over full ownership of the Narre Warren home if she paid $650,000 when requested.
She maintained that the agreement was made in February 2001 during a conversation in the kitchen of her former family home.
Ms. Robinson said she gave Ms. Amorosi $710,000 in 2014 for the loan she took out on her U.S. home, maintaining she had kept her end of the housing deal.
But Ms Amorosi told the court she should have full ownership as there was never any agreement.
The properties in dispute are a semi-rural property at Narre Warren in Melbourne’s south-east (pictured on Google Maps) and Ms Amorosi’s current residence in California.
The singer also sought to be the sole owner of her current residence in California, which was purchased through a trust account created by her mother.
Earlier this month, Judge Moore ruled that the alleged “kitchenette” arrangement never occurred and that the Narre Warren property should remain under Amorosi’s name alone.
It also concluded that Ms. Amorosi should be the sole owner of her California home.
However, Judge Moore agreed that Ms. Robinson should receive restitution from Ms. Amorosi for the contribution she made to his estate in 2014.
In the ruling, handed down on the composer’s 43rd birthday, he ordered Amorosi to pay his mother $650,000 plus $219,486.33 in interest.
Ms Amorosi did not attend court on Thursday for Judge Moore’s sentencing because she was still in the United States.
Ms. Robinson was also not present, although some members of her family attended the trial.
The legal battle began in March 2021 when Ms Amorosi launched Supreme Court proceedings against Ms Robinson.
During a five-day trial in October, both Amorosi and her mother testified, with the artist taking breaks to wipe away tears and compose herself.
At the trial, which was attended by judges only, the court was told that the mother and daughter had a fight in 2015.
Ms Amorosi said things came to a head when she was forced to sell a house near Los Angeles because she was told she could not keep up with the payments.
“I knew I was going to lose the property. There was a lot of confusion and I couldn’t get answers as to why,” he told the court.
‘I asked her (Mrs Robinson) to show me where the money had gone… (She said) I had spent it all and I should go home and get to work.’
Ms Amorosi said she believed her mother had taken control of her finances when she was a teenager and had been “very generous” with the millions of dollars she earned in the early 2000s.
Ms Amorosi rose to fame at the age of 18 in 1999 with the release of her debut single Have a Look, which achieved gold status in Australia.
But Ms Robinson told the court she always acted in her daughter’s best interests and followed the advice of an accountant recommended to her by Ms Amorosi’s manager.
“My daughter and I were best friends, we never worried about money… I loved her and I still love her, that’s the heartbreaking part,” she said.
Ms Amorosi rose to fame at the age of 18 in 1999 with the release of her debut single Have a Look, which achieved gold status in Australia.
The following year, she achieved international success with her debut studio album, The Power, and performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Their song Absolutely Everybody became an unofficial anthem of the Games and went on to be a huge hit in Australia and Europe, including the UK and Germany.
Their combined album and single sales have surpassed two million worldwide.