Carlos Gardel's will said he was born in Toulouse and left everything to his mother, and his estate passed from her to his agent's family while Uruguay says he was born there

On 7 November 1933, the day he left for Europe, Gardel wrote a holographic will at the request of his agent, Armando Defino. It said he was Carlos Romualdo Gardés, French, born in Toulouse on 11 December 1890, son of Berthe Gardes, single, with no children. It made his mother sole universal heir and Defino executor. Gardel died in a plane collision at Medellín on 24 June 1935. His bank accounts and property titles were in the name "Carlos Gardel", so the will was registered with a notary on 21 August 1935 before his mother could open the succession. A second succession case followed in Uruguay in 1936, where he owned property. His body was brought back to Buenos Aires and buried in the Chacarita cemetery. Berthe Gardes died in 1943 and left everything to Defino. Defino died in 1958 and left his estate to his wife, Adela Blasco, who died in 1984 without forced heirs and left hers to Nuria de Fortuny^†. In 2012 researchers published the Toulouse register entry for Charles Romuald Gardes, born 11 December 1890. Uruguayan researchers say he was born in Tacuarembó in 1887, citing 1920 Uruguayan consular papers; a certificate of 8 October 1920 giving that birthplace was found in November 2025 and reported in January 2026. In October 2026 Uruguay's parliament recognised 11 December 1887 in Tacuarembó as his birth date.