Diego Maradona wasn’t far from controversy on the football pitch, and now it appears his legacy could become another hot topic of discussion.
The football icon passed away last week, aged 60. However, there have been reports that Maradona didn’t make a Will, the complexities of Argentinian Probate law and the question over whose children Maradona fathered could hinder the division of the estate.
It is thought that Maradona fathered eight children with six women. But due to the wealth amassed by the footballer, it is thought that court battles will shortly begin to work out which child should benefit from his estate.
The court battles have already begun, as two people who claim that Maradona is their father, have asked a court to exhume his body in order for DNA testing to be conducted.
Speaking to The BBC, Elias Kier Joffe, a lawyer in Buenos Aires, said:
“I predict the inheritance process will be a mess.
“I suspect it will take some time to sort out.”
He added:
“The culture of Argentina is not to draft a will. Most people don’t”
Maradona’s apparent heirs – recognised or not – can file a claim for a share of his inheritance in court nine days after his death on 25 November. Argentine media reports suggest Maradona’s third daughter, was the first to do so on Thursday.
A judge will then decide “who takes what” before issuing what’s known as the declaration of heirs, a process which could take months.
