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Case file s543 · Music and sport · 2022
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2022
Pelé: Pele con brasil (cropped)
Pelé. Unknown author. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
29 December 2022
Place
São Paulo, Brazil
Field
football · Sport on the timeline
Legal tradition
Brazilian civil law (reserved shares for heirs) · Civil law
Historical event
Brazil's World Cup wins in 1958, 1962 and 1970
Religion
Pelé: Catholic (recorded as Brazilian Roman Catholics on Wikipedia)
Music and sportSecret children and false heirsNowLatin AmericaBrazil

Pelé fought a paternity case he lost, and after his death a woman claimed his estate until two DNA tests failed

Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, won three World Cups. In the 1990s Sandra Regina Machado sued to be recognized as his daughter. A court-ordered DNA test in 1993 confirmed it†. Pelé never accepted her socially†. She died of breast cancer in 2006 at 42. Her share of his estate passed to her two sons, Octávio and Gabriel. After Pelé died, Maria do Socorro Azevedo claimed she was also his daughter. Brazilian law reserves a fixed share of an estate for children. A court set aside a share for her until a DNA test was done. Pelé's lawyer said that without proof she could not be an heir. Two DNA tests came back negative. On 27 March 2024 the court ruled there was no biological link, according to family lawyer Augusto Miglioli, and closed the case. Her reserved share was released to the other heirs. In 2026 Pelé's estate is divided among his widow and his recognized children and grandchildren†.

What the law took from it

Under forced-heirship law a single paternity claim can freeze part of an estate until the court has the DNA result.

Sources
  1. primicias.ecPress
  2. noticiascaracol.comPress
  3. diariodonordeste.verdesmares.com.brPress
  4. gazetasp.com.brPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Pelé fought a paternity case he lost, and after his death a woman claimed his estate until two DNA tests failed,” story s543, https://www.celebrity.estate/pele-2022, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportSecret children and false heirsNowLatin AmericaCivil lawBrazil