Update on Luciano Pavarotti’s Estate

Luciano Pavarotti was survived by his first wife (Adua), his second wife (Nicoletta, age 37), one daughter from his current marriage (Alice, age 4), and three daughters from his first marriage (Lorenza, age 44; Cristina, age 42, and Giuliana, age 39).

He died with two wills.

• Italian Will:
  • Executed on June 13, 2007.
  • Two friends (Edwin Tinoco & Veronica Zeggio) receive $693,350 each.
  • Remainder left one-half to Nicoletta and one-half to his four daughters.
       
• United States Will:
  • Executed on July 29, 2007.
  • Disposes of his United States holdings.
  • Places three New York apartments and their valuable contents into a trust managed by Nicoletta for her benefit.  The will provides that “[m]y wife is not obliged to confer the assets of the American will to other heirs.”

Here are some of the additional issues:

• Dispute between Nicoletta and Luciano’s daughters from his first marriage.  Note that Nicoletta is younger than the youngest of these daughters.
• Possible contest of United States will by Luciano’s daughters from his first marriage.
• Uncertainty regarding the value of his estates with some estimates ranging as high as $275 million.
• Adua, his first wife to whom he was married for more than 35 years, received nothing under the wills, but she did receive a large divorce settlement.

It now appears that the family has reached a settlement to distribute the estate and avoid litigation.  The details of the settlement have not been released.  See Felicia R. Lee, Pavarotti’s Daughters and Widow Reach Deal, NY Times, July 1, 2008.

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Attorney at law, Florida Probate Attorney Wills and Estates Law Firm) for bringing this settlement to my attention.