I'm Glad I Came Here With Your Pound Of Flesh: Pavarotti's Three Wills, the Recap

There's a lot of info out there in the English language media, most of it confusing, re: Luciano Pavarotti's three wills. It's only fair, even if OC is no fan of the whole "Wheel Of Fortune" lawyer thing that's going on in his family since the great tenor's passing last month, to try to give our readers a recap.

So here it is.

Pavarotti, already very sick with cancer, wrote in December '06, by hand, a will (that only was made public yesterday by one of his adult daughter's lawyer) that essentially disinherited his wife Nicoletta Mantovani, splitting his fortune (worth several hundreds of millions of dollars) equally among his four daughters (three adult women from his first wife Adua, 4-year-old Alice by Nicoletta Mantovani) and leaving Mantovani the house in Pesaro and the full ownership of an Italian corporation (of arts management) own jointly by Pavarotti and Mantovani.

Only one thing in the big mess is clear: that testament from December '06 has been rendered null and void by more recent provisions. Let's see them.

Because the maestro -- for reasons we don't care about because there's only hearsay and shaky evidence regarding this key point, the "why" -- changed his mind: two wills have been added in 2007, and they radically alter the situation in favor of second wife Nicoletta Mantovani: in June 2007 and then on July 27, 2007 (about forty days before his death and two weeks before being hospitalized), Pavarotti dictated two wills -- against his own smalltown notary's advice -- that split his fortune by leaving only 12.5% each to his four daughters, while half of his money and properties to his wife Nicoletta Mantovani; because Italian law essentially requires that one must leave a sizable chunk of one's assets to one's sons and daughters, but since there is no such provision in US law one of these two more recent wills, the "American Will" (pdf file via the excellent Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, that has been leading the coverage of the financial imbroglio) sets up a trust and leaves most of Pavarotti's fortune (royalties, stocks, bank accounts, not to mention the three Central Park South apartments and a vast art collection still to be professionally appraised) to his wife Nicoletta (a decision that obviously the older daughters have called "seriously prejudicial" to their interests).   

Tu sum it up: Mantovani seems to have been for all practical purposes disinherited in December '06; six and then seven months later, she gets first 50% of her husband fortune, and then she gets the American trust that could easily be interpreted by a US judge to give her even deeper control over the bulk of the Pavarotti fortune.

It remains to be seen in the inevitable lawsuit (in a US court) if the "American will" can indeed go clearly against the provisions of Italian law: obviously the three older daughters' legal team would like to have the American will declared null and void by a US judge, because if they have to get 12.5% each, it's financially catastrophic that an American will subtracts (by moving most of the money under US jurisdiction) tens and even possibly hundreds of millions of dollars from the 100% their 12.5% will come from. (ed: the "American will" seems to accomplish a brilliant legal sleight of hand, taking a huge chunk of the Pavarotti fortune out of the  "Italian" 100% that the daughters get to share by right according to Italian law).

To make things more complicated, the status of Mantovani's citizenship (it is doubtful -- but unknown for certain -- that she ever gained dual Italian/US citizenship during her marriage to Pavarotti) apparently could also be a factor in the American judge's decision (or so the older daughters legal team hopes -- ed. Mantovani's apparent lack of US citizenship will be one of the reasons invoked by the older daughters' lawyers to render the "American will" null and void).

Nicoletta Mantovani's lawyers have quickly threatened to sue for slander anybody who spreads "lies" about the situation.

***update***

Big sisterly hugs to dearest La Cieca who takes the time to read -- and link! -- us, plus  lo4ds of  bonus points for the Gianni Schicchi shoutout.

Comments

[i <3 opera]

>>Pavarotti [...] wrote in December '06 [...] a will [...] that essentially disinherited his wife Nicoletta Mantovani,

YAY!!!!!!

>>Only one thing in the big mess is clear: that testament from December '06 has been rendered null and void by more recent provisions.

BOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

What a ho.

[Liva]

I think, that it would be only fear to take the last Luciano's will as the real and right one. You can write or dictate as much wills as you want, but the last is the real testament.
And all those rumors about Nicoletta, it's just silly. If she was his wife, and in his last will he left the bulk of his fortune to her, then she deserves it, and logically she would share it with their daughter.
So, I think that Pavarotti's elder daughters should slow down, he died just a month ago, the world is still mourning.
It's all very ugly. I'm sure, Luciano didn't want his family to fight about his fortune.

Rest in peace, Great Maestro, Luciano.

[Hans Lick]

The moral is: It's nice to have a rich parent or spouse ... but don't quit your day job.

You'd think there would be enough to go around from an estate this size...

Hans Lick
Cafeteria Rusticana

[Les Mitchell]

One would think that the entire situation could be handled with dignity and class. Obviously, with such a fortune, and with a second wife with a daughter, as well as three from a previous marriage, things would get messed up. We all should have such financial problems!

[Opera Lady]

Opera Chic:

Your reporting of the happenings throughout the opera world are always thorough and most informative. You have done an excellent job of explaining the complex issues resulting from Pavarotti's will. Didn't the Great Caruso's untimely death trigger an awful among spat among his surviving heirs as well?

[Baryton francais]

Thanks OC for the info. It's terribly sad that the maestro has to have this happen in the wake of his parting from us all. The world is full of greedy bastards, and unfortunately this BS happens over and over again when someone passes away.

[Opera Chic doing a cut&paste from Crew Mantle]

OC is posting temporarily @ the kind request of OC reader and commentor, Crew Mantle:

Crew Mantle reports:

"This entire predictable episode is soo completely devoid of good taste... In that regard it is a perfect final chapter for the man himself.

OC, your column offers no opinion, but just states the facts already in the public domain.. what I write here is opinion... mine.

I esteem Pavarotti for the great tenor he was and his significant contribution to the art form. As a man, I regard him as someone not worthy for polite society.

There is no question the man cheated continuously on his long suffering first wife. Isn't that how he got together with Ms. Montovani? Did she not wear her ankles behind her ears while he was a married man? Of course she would have us believe she was Gilda to his Duke of Mantua..Fine.. Okay.

Pavarotti's first wife, Adua knew the deal, but chose to be a 'European' wife and look the other way from his infidelities. But can you imagine the difficult position this put his colleagues in who were freinds with Adua???
This stunning rudeness to them must have seemed breathtaking. I don't recall seeing ANY top tier colleagues from his past in attendance at his funeral.

Go figure. He flung his egotistical arrogance in everyones face. Is it any wonder there was a break with his daughters?

Second wives are seldom in it for love.. they have their eye on the eight ball. I give this one high credit for having the ability to bed such a corpulent obese man and appear believable in love making. For that alone she deserves EVERY dime.

The 2006 will likely represented the posture of a terminal man trying to right a life of wrong to his children. What prompted the later changes?

Pavarotti was obviously not historically a man of much spine in his personal life. And certainly doing the right thing by anyone other than himself never got in his way....

In that minor admission we have the answer to the questions of this parable."

[Corey]

Ouch.

[CrewMantle]

UPDATE....

It is being made public that Pavarotti's fortune is not what it appeared to be, but rather substantially less. Forensic audits will tell the story if a party wishes to get to the truth.

In my opinion, money earned is to be spent in ones own lifetime. It is sweet to leave some sort of reminder to be sure, and naturally, suitable preparations should be adressed to progeny still in their minority. But other than that, rawk on; give away what you can while your alive, and go ahead and stand on the equator when you've turned 50 ;-)