OPERA star Luciano Pavarotti's wife has reached an agreement with the daughters of his first marriage following a bitter argument over his will.
Pavarotti, who died aged 71 from pancreatic cancer, left an estimated £250 million fortune in property, shares and royalties.
His second wife Nicoletta Mantovani, 38, was involved in a wrangle with his daughters Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana ov
er the will.
Nicoletta legally inherited half by Italian law – and the rest was divided between the three daughters and to another daughter, Alice, he had with Nicoletta shortly after they married in 2004.
However the three daughters from his first marriage immediately contested the will as they felt they had been "short– changed", while it also emerged that a second American will had left everything to Nicoletta.
Yesterday lawyers acting for Nicoletta and the three daughters confirmed that an agreement had been reached which "divided equally in a manner compatible with legal parameters" Pavarotti's estate.
They added that Pavarotti's villa at Pesaro where he spent much of his time recuperating following his diagnosis would go to Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana.
Pavarotti also drew up a will which dealt only with his American assets, which he left as a trust for Nicoletta Mantovani and Alice.
The "American" will set off a legal battle between the heirs and was also the subject of a judicial probe into whether he had been "coerced while not in full possession of his faculties."
Yesterday Massimo di Patria, the magistrate handling the investigation, said he expected the case to be concluded by the end of the summer.
After learning of the American will, Pavarotti's three daughters took action to determine whether this entitled Nicoletta to more than the 50 per cent of their father's estate according to Italian law.
Pavarotti's lawyer Anna Maria Bernini, who negotiated the settlement said: "Nicoletta Mantovani and Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana are today linked by a true friendship. And the three sisters fully consider Alice, the maestro's fourth daughter, to be their true sister.
"The Maestro did not want any wars or battles."
The full article contains 353 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
