Arturo Gatti's widow has been awarded $40,000 from her dead husband's estate to pay legal and child care fees.

Amanda Rodrigues was awarded $30,000 for legal fees and $10,000 for child care costs -- for the couple's son, Arturo Jr. -- in a Quebec Superior Court on Thursday morning.

But the 23-year-old Rodrigues has not been successful in obtaining a $150,000 advance she sought from the estate, nor has she been able to claim custody of the family dog.

Superior Court Justice Paul Chaput urged Rodrigues and the dead boxer's family to reach some sort of settlement, though both sides appear to be willing to go the distance to gain control of Gatti's estate fortune that is worth an estimated $6 million.

Gatti's family is pointing to a will signed in New Jersey two years ago, which they believe is valid and leaves control of his estate to his mother.

His wife's lawyer, however, says Gatti signed a will in Quebec only three weeks before he died. That will suggests the boxer wanted his fortune left to Rodrigues, who did not appear in court on Thursday.

"We take the position that this is the only will that should prevail, the last will that was signed in June," Pierre Hughes-Fortin told reporters following the hearing.

During the Thursday morning session, Chaput suggested that any protracted battle over Gatti's fortune could waste away much of what is left.

"I think the judge was careful in his judgment in the sense that he assured the succession would be protected at this stage," said Grace Di Pace, a lawyer representing Gatti's mother and brother.

"It's not going to be divided, it's not going to be touched until the proceedings go on."

Both sides will return to court on Nov. 17, in just under two weeks.

Gatti, an Italian-born, Montreal-raised fighter, was found dead in his room at a Brazilian resort on July 11. He was only 37 years old.

His death was first ruled a homicide and Rodrigues was detained for a few weeks. But Brazilian police later decided Gatti killed himself and his wife was freed.

To date, authorities have determined that Gatti hung himself with a bag strap that he tied around a wooden staircase column. They believe he then looped the strap around his neck before stepping off a stool.

The boxer's family has refuted his cause of death and paid for a second autopsy. But they have yet to release the full results of the second autopsy examination.

With files from The Canadian Press and a report from CTV Montreal's Derek Conlon