Gal Costa's adopted son asked to exhume her and challenged her widow's claim to half the estate, then settled for an equal split

Gal Costa died on 9 November 2022, aged 77. Her death certificate gave a heart attack and cancer of the head and neck. No autopsy was done. In 2007 she had adopted Gabriel, then about two, from a shelter in Rio de Janeiro. Wilma Petrillo, her partner and manager for more than 20 years, obtained court recognition of a stable union and was named administrator of the estate. That gave her a claim to half. Gabriel turned 18. He said he had not known his mother had cancer. On 13 March 2024 he asked a Rio court to exhume her body for a necropsy and to rebury her beside her own mother. He said Wilma pressured him as a minor to confirm the union. Wilma said Gal had asked not to be autopsied, and asked whether he thought she had killed his mother. The court refused the exhumation and sent the case to the police. On 1 July 2024 São Paulo police closed the inquiry without charging anyone. Two cousins sued to restore a 1997 will that left her fortune to a foundation they would run. They allege Wilma persuaded her to revoke it in 2019. In September 2024 Gabriel and Wilma agreed to split the assets and debts equally, and Gabriel dropped his suits. He keeps the rights to her songs. In August 2026 her São Paulo house sold for R$6.7 million, half to each, which closes the estate.