18. The Enigma of Pavarotti's Wills

Pavarotti chose sunflowers because:

"They seek the light."

"Sunflowers 6.09.07"

Acrylic on canvas 16x14 ins

Those, who like me are intrigued by the intricate baffling of wills and testaments will find ample fodder to chew upon with reference to Paverotti’s last words on the matter. In effect by leaving three totally valid wills he has constituted a precedent, a history upon which future generations can use as a case of law to change what up to now was the accepted norm of procedure on the validity of wills. It wasn’t that Paverotti was ostentatiously eccentric, but he did have the habit of doing things just that bit different from the expected which won him the fame of being original; his last wills and testaments are no exception.
A special aura surrounds the opening of wills and testaments and have often been the basis of films, novels and thrillers as it is the revelation of a person’s last desires which quite often turn out to be secretive and unexpected. This may be the case for the majority of human beings since a person is considered free to leave whatever he wants to whoever he wants, after one’s death- but not so for some. In some countries the law of the land overrules the wishes of the individual. Jane Austen’s novels are full of women outdone of their inheritance simply because they were not males. In “Pride and Prejudice” we get the classical case where none of the Bennet sisters can inherit the family house and must be forfeited to the nearest male, next of kin which is the odious cousin Collins. The same “injustice” is also subject any heir who is not first-born and not only in Britain. Thrones and dominions have crumbled because of contestations between siblings. There’s nothing personal in all this, but since only one can inherit a title this is reserved to the first born, even though there are exceptions to this, where the titled person himself can nominate his own successor. That kingdoms and patrimonies have remained intact it was thanks to the fact that the first born inherited the title and hence the relative estate, the second, a Vicarage and hence, aptitude or not, took Holy Orders, while any remaining sons were sent to take up a post as officers in the army.

The complete opposite takes place in Italy where the “Roman Law” is still applied and the last will and testament of a person has clamours limitations. Italian law is quite clear on certain factors and protects direct line descendants by binding the will to reserve the “Legitim” part to such descendents. Therefore a father cannot exclude any offspring, legitimate or natural or his legitimate surviving partner from the will. Italian law, however, allows a portion called “Disponibile” which is the quota available to the deceased to dispose as he wishes. The percentage of the total patrimony that a deceased can dispose of depends on how many direct heirs there are. If there is only a wife/husband then the percentage is half; if there is a wife/husband and one offspring, it a third: if there is a wife/husband and more than one offspring then the patrimony has to be divided with two thirds going to the children, and the remaining third divided equally between the surviving partner and the quota that the deceased may dispose of. There may of course be minor variations, but the basis is this. The only people who can freely dispose of their goods without the interference of the law are those not having a surviving legitimate partner or offspring which in my case could mean leaving everything to my pet dogs and cats….

Whatever limitations have and are being placed on how one can dispose of one’s patrimony the aura remains, even though in Pavarotti’s case, with four daughters and a legitimate surviving partner there was only a half of a third that he could do anything with. But Pavarotti did not take advantage of this right and the quota available he incorporated into the third that went to his wife while the other two thirds to be equally divided between his four daughters, leaving a relative small sum of a hundred thousand euros to each of his two assistants. This was the June Testament. The other two testaments, one in July and one a few days prior to his death need not have been opened if all parties involved accepted the first testament as the only and legitimate testament, hence the other two could well have been destroyed- I suppose. However, for a few days no one had asked for the second testament to be opened and therefore was not. Then one day last week the news given was that the second testament was also opened- on whose orders one knows not. In the meantime much gossip, probably with no foundations, that Pavorotti had been on the verge of a separation from his second wife and that he would have disinherited her was spread far and wide by the media. The second testament which contained further instructions on the first was that the property in the United States was to be inherited solely by his wife- a nice slap in the face for the media, was it not?

The second testament will now cause a nice how do you do because if taken by the letter, the property in the U.S needs to be included in the portions that were disposed in the first testament and not in addition to the surviving partner’s patrimony of one third. But if one interprets Pavarotti’s intentions is that he intended his surviving partner to inherit the portions of the patrimony as designated in his first testament and the estate in the U.S was to be an addition. However, by law the estate in the U.S. must be included in the total portion of the patrimony and not as an addition- it can become an addition only if Pavarotti’s daughters wanting to respect their father’s wish forfeit this right and donate this portion to the surviving wife… While we wait to see what happens one can’t help wondering, what about the third testament… will anyone call for that to be opened? However, one should also consider if it is fair that his infant daughter should only get the same amount as her adult sisters who have no need to be cared for? And what about Pavarotti’s sister whom he adored? I believe Pavorotti had set something aside for her and will that be taken from the portion at the deceased disposal or what- by law it must. So what’s the point of making out a will when the law has the last say in the matter anyway?