Lawyer who has acted for family of Gu Kailai, Heywood's killer, says Briton's relatives have been seeking redress since last year
The family of Neil Heywood, the British businessman murdered by the wife of the Chinese politician Bo Xilai, are seeking up to 50m yuan (£5m) in compensation, a Beijing lawyer has said.
The details emerged as Heywood's mother, Ann, broke more than a year of silence on the case to urge China to help the family end its "nightmare", saying the 41-year-old's death had left his children without financial provision.
She said she had wanted to avoid embarrassing the Chinese authorities, but was disappointed the family had received no substantive response to "repeated discreet approaches" requesting help.
Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted last year of murdering her former friend and associate. Heywood's family was initially told he had died of natural causes. Bo is expected to go on trial in Jinan, Shandong province, this month facing charges of embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power. It is not clear whether the latter charge relates to the concealment of his wife's crime, although state media earlier described him as having "major responsibility".
Li Xiaolin, a lawyer who previously acted for Gu's family, said Heywood's family had been seeking redress since last year but no agreement had been reached.
"His family wanted to negotiate with Gu's to get better compensation because the number [discussed] through the trial was very small. But Gu does not have assets she could use," he said.
Compensation for the families of murder victims is a common practice in China, although the sums involved are usually much smaller.
Bo earned a modest official salary and Gu gave up work as a lawyer as her husband's star rose, but the couple appear to have enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle.
Ann Heywood told the Wall Street Journal: "While struggling to come to terms with my own grief, my overriding concern has been for the security and wellbeing of Neil's two children. Now aged just eight and 12, they are particularly vulnerable to the hurt and horror of their father's murder and, since Neil was the family's sole breadwinner, to uncertainty and insecurity, there being no financial provision for their future.
"Given the circumstances of Neil's murder, I have been surprised and disappointed that, despite repeated discreet approaches to the Chinese authorities, there has been no substantive or practical response."
She urged China's leaders to show decisiveness and compassion to help the family deal with his death.
Heywood was found dead in a hotel room in Chongqing in November 2011. His death was blamed on excess alcohol consumption, although he was a light drinker, and his body was cremated without an autopsy, raising the concern of consular officials and expatriates who knew the businessman.
Heywood's family said they believed he had died of natural causes, but Britain requested that China reopen the case after Bo's former police chief fled to a US consulate in February 2012 and told diplomats Gu was responsible.
Gu was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for his murder. It will almost certainly be commuted to a long prison sentence. A family servant was jailed for aiding her.
Heywood's widow, Wang Lulu, could not be reached for comment on Monday. It is understood that she and their children continue to live in China.
A spokesman for the British embassy in Beijing said: "We have made the Chinese authorities aware of the family's concerns on the issue of compensation on several occasions since the trial, most recently twice during July 2013. We are providing ongoing consular support to the Heywood family."
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
Heywood, who grew up in London, was educated at Harrow and Warwick University before moving to China in the 1990s. He met the Bo family around that time and became part of Gu's inner circle, but their relationship cooled long before his death. His friends say she had become increasingly suspicious of those around her. Friends say he felt hard done by and had asked the Bo family for compensation.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that he was one of three people close to the family who managed a luxurious villa in Cannes. Prosecutors said Gu murdered Heywood because she thought he had threatened her son, Bo Guagua, due to a row over property dealings in Chongqing and France. Friends of Heywood have dismissed the suggestion and numerous questions remain about the official version of events.
