Mischa Barton is taking her mother to court in order to recoup earnings that she believes were stolen from her. The actress filed documents on Tuesday (April 7th) claiming that Nuala Barton had withheld her earnings throughout her career and had fraudulently exploited her.

Barton, who is best known by far for her role as Marissa Cooper in the Fox hit TV series ‘The O.C.’ that ran from 2003 to 2006, alleges that her mother kicked her out of a multi-million dollar Beverly Hills home that she had bought in 2006 with money she had earned for the family to live in.

Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton is taking her mother to court over lost earnings

The 29 year old’s lawyer Alex Weingarten made a statement to People magazine, saying: “From the outset, Nuala positioned herself to siphon her daughter's hard-earned money by purportedly acting as her talent manager: a role for which Nuala had absolutely no experience or training.”

More: Mischa Barton sued for missing movie

The lawsuit also claims that Nuala Barton had been withholding royalties for many years, did a number “damaging” endorsement deals, and generally bullied her daughter into appearing in unsuitable roles.

Her mother had been Mischa’s manager from the start of her career – she was a minor when she made her first career appearances in films like Notting Hill and The Sixth Sense – but that relationship finally disintegrated in 2014. She is now represented by the talent manager APA and LINK.

While she was something of an ‘it girl’ in the noughties, Barton has struggled to maintain her profile since ‘The O.C.’ ended, appearing infrequently in movies and shows that have failed to ignite in the way their makers had hoped. In recent years, she has returned to the stage where she began her acting career.

Nuala Barton’s attorney Lawrence Ecoff told The Hollywood Reporter that Nuala and her husband (Mischa’s father) had not received the complaint, and declined to comment further.

More: Mischa Barton says fame made her suffer a “terrifying breakdown”