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Maradona's Death May Trigger Family Inheritance Battle

Agence France-Presse

   BUENOS AIRES - Diego Maradona's tormented private life, with its
   tangled relationships and paternity suits, suggests distributing his
   inheritance will be a complex task for lawyers bracing for claims from
   a slew of children -- those he recognized and those he didn't.

   "There's going to be a big fight. He didn't leave a will," according to
   a source close to the family who declined to be named.

   Maradona made and wasted millions over his years at the pinnacle of his
   fame with Barcelona, Napoli and Argentina, and he also made some shrewd
   investments. Some reports circulating since his death estimate his
   estate at $90 million.

   Angered over a dispute with his daughter Giannina last year, he
   threatened to donate all his wealth, including properties, luxury cars
   and sponsorship contracts, to charity.

   'I'm going to give it all away'

   "I know that now, as you get older, people are more concerned about
   what you leave behind than what you are doing," he was quoted as saying
   at the time.

   "And I tell them all that I'm not going to leave them anything, that
   I'm going to give it all away. Everything I've got in my life, I'm
   going to give away," he said.

   Under Argentine law, however, people can give away only a fifth of
   their assets. At least two-thirds must be left to the spouse or
   offspring of the deceased.

   Giannina, 31, had sparked the row by accusing the former star's
   entourage of not taking proper care of him, which seems to have been a
   recurring theme of their relationship.

   Father and daughter had reconciled by his 60th birthday in October,
   with Giannina lauding him in a series of affectionate messages posted
   on social media with her sister, Dalma.

   "He is my great example of all the things to do and all the things not
   to do. I have admired him, yesterday, today and always. He taught me to
   forgive, to forgive myself," Gianinna wrote.

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