Champlain named the Virgin Mary as his heir in 1635; his cousin sued in Paris and the will was annulled in 1639

Samuel de Champlain was paralysed when his will was drafted at Quebec on 17 November 1635 by the clerk De La Ville. It named the Holy Virgin as heir to his furniture, gold and silver in Canada, and identified her with the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Recouvrance. The Jesuits received his shares in the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France and a private company, valued at 4,300 livres. Paris charities received 100 to 600 livres each. Hélène Desportes received 300 livres. His property in France went to his widow, Hélène Boullé. His first cousin Marie Camaret was named residuary legatee. The widow registered the will in Paris on 22 November 1636. After the widow and the legatees took their shares, nothing was left for Camaret. She and her husband, Jacques Hersant, sued before the Provost of Paris. They argued that the Jesuits had influenced the dying man, that the will was forged, and that legal formalities had not been followed. They lost, appealed to the Parlement of Paris, and won a judgment on 15 March 1639 that annulled the will. One account says the court held the will conflicted with Champlain's marriage contract^†. In September 1639 the company shares passed to Hersant and Camaret. Champlain was buried in a chapel that burned in 1640. His remains have never been found. The will itself was published in 1963 from the Paris notarial archives.