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Latin America

Estates, conquest grants and family fortunes in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

112 storiesUnited KingdomItalyGermanyMexicoSwitzerlandBrazilNetherlandsArgentinaPeruJamaicaCaribbean islandsChileColombiaPanama

What do the Latin America estate cases show?

In Mexico an artist's work can be declared a national monument, which limits what any owner may do with it. Brand rights held in a company outside the estate can slip away from the heirs unless ownership of that company is documented.

Stories
112
Years
250 to 2025
Main subjects
Latin America, Native nations and islands, Music and sport
Legal traditions
Civil law, Common law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every story in Latin America, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

  1. 2022A Miami businessman burned a drawing he said was Frida Kahlo's to sell 10,000 NFTs, and Mexico investigated because her work is a national monumentSmithsonian Magazine and 2 more
  2. 2020Diego Maradona left five recognised heirs, more paternity claims, and two trials over his death and his namelacapital.com.ar and 3 more
  3. 2019El Chapo was ordered to forfeit $12.6 billion, and two of the sons who inherited his cartel faction pleaded guilty in Chicagoapi-prod.gothamist.com and 2 more
  4. 2024Liam Payne fell from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony with no will, and his £24 million went to his seven-year-old sontribune.com.pk and 3 more
  5. 1954Diego Rivera locked Frida Kahlo's bathroom after she died, and her clothes and papers stayed sealed for 50 yearsgetty.edu and 3 more
  6. 1967Bolivian officers cut off Che Guevara's hands in 1967, a minister had them smuggled toward Cuba in a jar, and his body was found under an airstrip 30 years laterpagina12.com.ar and 3 more
  7. 1993Pablo Escobar's four hippos outlived him, Colombia seized his ranch, and in 2026 the government approved killing their descendantsminambiente.gov.co and 3 more
  8. 1961Ernest Hemingway's widow gave his Cuban house to Castro's government in 1961 and shipped his papers and paintings out on a shrimp boatSmithsonian Magazine and 3 more
  9. 2014Gabriel García Márquez said his last novel must be destroyed; his sons published it on his 97th birthdayeuronews.com and 3 more
  10. 2019José José's older children searched Miami hospitals and funeral homes for his body, and two wills name different heirshola.com and 2 more
  11. 1952Argentina's military seized Eva Perón's embalmed body and buried it in Milan under a false nameIl Post and 3 more
  12. 1987Peter Tosh died without a will; his ten children fought in a Manhattan court over his royaltiesblackamericaweb.com and 3 more
  13. 2012Jenni Rivera's children sued their grandfather's label for exploiting her music, and the family split in courtremezcla.com and 2 more
  14. 2021Vicente Fernández's widow went to court to stop Televisa using his name for a biopic, and the series aired anywayinfobae.com and 5 more
  15. 2014Switzerland's top court ruled that Baby Doc's family could have his frozen millions hours before the Haiti earthquake, and parliament passed a law to stop itswissinfo.ch and 3 more
  16. 1974Thieves cut the hands off Juan Perón's body in 1987 and demanded 8 million dollars, and the judge investigating died in a car crashpagina12.com.ar and 3 more
  17. 1991Margot Fonteyn died in Panama in 1991 after her savings went to her paralysed husband's care, and a 1990 gala raised 250,000 pounds for herThe Seattle Times and 3 more
  18. 1973Soldiers shot Víctor Jara 44 times, his widow buried him in secret, and 50 years later Chile jailed his killers and Florida deported the last oneice.gov and 6 more
  19. 2021Bunny Wailer's wife was missing when he died, his 13 children were told to take DNA tests, and his son sued to remove his brother as executorInternet Archive and 4 more
  20. 1914Ambrose Bierce vanished in Mexico in 1913 or 1914, and a priest put a plaque in a Sierra Mojada cemetery in 2004 for the grave a witness describeddonswaim.com and 1 more
  21. 2019João Gilberto's daughter had him declared incapable while he faced eviction, and his heirs won R$150 million from his record label after he diedrollingstone.com.br and 3 more
  22. 1923Pancho Villa's grave was opened in 1926 and his head taken, and his widows' court fight ended with the government seizing his haciendarevistabicentenario.com.mx and 2 more
  23. 1919Anenecuilco gave Zapata its colonial land titles in 1909; the man he left them to was killed in a land fight with Zapata's soninehrm.gob.mx and 2 more
  24. 2021Argentine president Carlos Menem's son from his prison-era affair was recognised by a court only in 2006, after his mother's deathpagina12.com.ar and 2 more
  25. 2025Venezuela seized foreign oil projects in 2007, and a Delaware judge ordered its US refiner Citgo sold for $5.9 billion to pay the claimsAl Jazeera and 3 more
  26. 2019Gugu Liberato's will left nothing to the mother of his three children, and a chef who said he was Gugu's partner of eight years sued as wellagazeta.com.br and 3 more
  27. 1957Mexico's Supreme Court annulled Pedro Infante's second marriage six days before he died in a plane crashinfobae.com and 2 more
  28. 2020Joseph Safra's son sued his mother and brothers over the family bank, alleging his father had been influenced to change his will, and settled in 2024forbes.com.br and 1 more
  29. 2008Huntington Hartford had $90 million at 12, lost about $30 million on Paradise Island, and was found in a Brooklyn rental at 90washingtonexaminer.com and 1 more
  30. 1830Simón Bolívar's will left only the Aroa copper mines, his sisters sold them in 1832, and Hugo Chávez had his bones dug up in 2010es.wikisource.org and 4 more
  31. 2022Pelé fought a paternity case he lost, and after his death a woman claimed his estate until two DNA tests failedprimicias.ec and 3 more
  32. 2001Aaliyah's uncle owned her masters, and most of her music stayed off streaming for 20 years after her deaththefader.com and 3 more
  33. 1973Chile dug up Pablo Neruda 40 years after the 1973 coup, and scientists found botulism bacteria in his toothjurist.org and 3 more
  34. 2022Gal Costa's adopted son asked to exhume her and challenged her widow's claim to half the estate, then settled for an equal splitcnnbrasil.com.br and 4 more
  35. 1951Fritz Thyssen paid for Hitler's rise, lost his fortune to him in 1939, survived the camps and emigrated on his book royaltiesifz-muenchen.de and 4 more
  36. 2020Venezuela's 31 tonnes of gold have sat in the Bank of England through two rival governments, a captured president and an earthquakesupremecourt.uk and 4 more
  37. 2013Missoni's chief executive vanished in a plane off Venezuela, his father died before the wreck was found, and the family gave up the companythelocal.it and 3 more
  38. 1955The Nazis held Louis de Rothschild hostage in Vienna in 1938 and released him for the family's assetsjta.org and 6 more
  39. 1988Luis Barragán's archive was sold in 1995 and kept closed in Switzerland, and an artist made a diamond from his ashes to trade for itbarragan-foundation.org and 4 more
  40. 1935Carlos 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 theretodotango.com and 4 more
  41. 1959Cuba seized the Arechabala family's Havana Club rum company in 1959, and the family's lapsed US trademark has been in court ever sincecongress.gov and 2 more
  42. 1935Venezuela confiscated dictator Juan Vicente Gómez's fortune after his death in 1935, after first letting more than 90 relatives leave with moneyhistory.colostate.edu and 3 more
  43. 1891Pedro II's heirs still collect 2.5 percent of every land sale in central Petrópolis, 137 years after the empire fellub.edu and 2 more
  44. 2006Chile's Supreme Court forfeited Pinochet's assets in 2018 after the US Senate exposed his Riggs Bank accountslatercera.com and 2 more
  45. 1935A US consul bought Chichén Itzá for 200 pesos and shipped the Sacred Cenote's offerings to Harvard; his heirs won the land back in Mexico's Supreme Courtresearch.cgu.edu and 4 more
  46. 2021Bitcoin pioneer Mircea Popescu drowned off Costa Rica, and no heir or keyholder has come forward for coins said to number up to a millionteletica.com and 2 more
  47. 2018Banking heir Matthew Mellon died with $193 million in XRP, the keys hidden under other people's names, and a deal that let his estate sell only a little each daydailydot.com and 2 more
  48. 2009Franz Ulrich Kinsky sued the Czech state more than 100 times for land taken in 1945, and Strasbourg ruled his trials unfairEuropean Court of Human Rights and 3 more
  49. 2006Stroessner's family wealth was never prosecuted, and human bones were found in his former house in 2019NBC News and 5 more
  50. 2004The heir to the Santos docks fortune spent it all and died on a state pension in the Rio hotel his family built and soldThe Seattle Times and 2 more
  51. 2000René Favaloro, who developed coronary bypass surgery, shot himself after his foundation went unpaid by Argentina's health insurersAl Jazeera and 3 more
  52. 1993Cantinflas's son and nephew fought over his films on the strength of a deathbed paper, and the family crypt was broken open in 2018eltiempo.com and 2 more
  53. 1980Nicaragua's Decree 3 confiscated Somoza family property in 1979, and Somoza was killed in Asunción in 1980nicaragua.justia.com and 4 more
  54. 1974Montoneros kidnapped the Born brothers, heirs to Bunge y Born, and freed them after nine months for a reported $60 millionnoticias.perfil.com and 3 more
  55. 1973Guerrillas killed Eugenio Garza Sada in a kidnapping attempt in 1973, and his family split the Monterrey Group into fourexcelsior.com.mx and 2 more
  56. 1971Arbenz's land law took 234,000 acres from United Fruit; after the 1954 coup the junta seized the Arbenz family farm, and Guatemala apologised to his family in 2011history.state.gov and 3 more
  57. 1968Assis Chateaubriand had Vargas change the law to win custody of his daughter, gave his media empire to 22 employees, and that daughter lost the fight to recover it in 2014correiodamanha.com.br and 4 more
  58. 1961The Dominican Republic confiscated the Trujillo family's property by law in 1962, and his remains lie in a cemetery near Madridmemoriahistorica.senadord.gob.do and 6 more
  59. 1960Cuba seized the Havana docks in 1960, a US company won more than $100 million from each of four cruise lines, and the Supreme Court revived its claim in 2026Cornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  60. 1957Gabriela Mistral left her South American royalties to the poor children of her village, and Pinochet's government let anyone publish her work in Chile from 1979chile.justia.com and 5 more
  61. 1842Mexico seized the Jesuit mission fund for California in 1842, and the claim ran 125 years through the first case at The Haguehistory.state.gov and 3 more
  62. 1596Francis Drake promised his estates to his wife, then signed them to his brother 2 days before dying at sea, and the brother won the lawsuitsbeta.nationalarchives.gov.uk and 7 more
  63. 1947Bolivia seized the tin king's mines in 1952, and his heir offered the government a 5 million dollar loan for a law that would let him divorceTime and 3 more
  64. 1947Simón Patiño built a tin fortune from one Bolivian vein, and five years after his death the revolution took his mineshistory.state.gov and 4 more
  65. 1940Stalin's agents killed Trotsky and members of his family; he sealed his exile papers at Harvard until 1980, and the grandson who survived kept his house as a museumguides.library.harvard.edu and 5 more
  66. 1938Mexico expropriated the foreign oil companies in 1938, crowds brought chickens and jewelry to help pay, and Mexico paid the companies in fullhistory.state.gov and 2 more
  67. 1937Brazil's largest industrial group lost its chosen heir in a car race, passed to the founder's twelfth child, and filed for court protection in 1983vivant.it and 4 more
  68. 1923Villa's soldiers took Luis Terrazas's son from the British consulate for ransom, and Mexico bought the family's estates for 13.6 million pesos in 1922history.state.gov and 5 more
  69. 1921Princess Isabel sued Brazil for her Rio palace in 1895, and her heirs lost the case 125 years laterjota.info and 4 more
  70. 1541Pizarro's daughter and heir married her imprisoned uncle, his skull was found in a lead box in 1977, and Spain reissued his marquisate in 2019Boletín Oficial del Estado and 5 more
  71. 1560Malinche's daughter sued her father's widow for the encomienda of Xilotepec, citing her mother's service to the Crown in the conquestcambridge.org and 2 more
  72. 1688Henry Morgan left his plantations and 131 enslaved people to his wife and nephews, and four years later his grave went under the sealbs.ucl.ac.uk and 3 more
  73. 1596The Inquisition burned the heir to Nuevo León's governorship with his mother and three sisters in 1596, and his stolen memoir went back to Mexico in 2017tshaonline.org and 3 more
  74. 1827Rose Hall's heir died in debt, his widow sold her rights for £200, and a novel later made her the "White Witch" who killed three husbandsjamaicanfamilysearch.com and 2 more
  75. 1870Eliza Lynch buried Paraguay's dictator and their son in 1870, was expelled when she came back for his lands, and Paraguay voted in 2025 to move her bones to its Pantheon of Heroesportalguarani.com and 6 more
  76. 1519Pedrarias Dávila had Balboa, his son-in-law by proxy, beheaded at Acla in 1519 for treasoneldebate.com and 4 more
  77. 1876Santa Anna sold La Mesilla to the United States for $10 million, mortgaged his estates from exile, and Illinois keeps his leghistory.state.gov and 3 more
  78. 1867Juárez refused to hand over Emperor Maximilian's body after the 1867 execution, and his widow's fortune went home to Belgium with her under her brother's controlhistory.state.gov and 4 more
  79. 1867Maximilian made the two-year-old grandson of Mexico's first emperor a prince and his ward, and the boy died a Georgetown language teacher with no childrenes.wikisource.org and 2 more
  80. 1825France made Haiti pay 150 million francs in 1825 to compensate its former slaveholders, and Haitians paid on the debt until 1947csmonitor.com and 3 more
  81. 1820Haiti's King Henry shot himself, rebels bayoneted his 16-year-old heir ten days later, and the queen took her daughters into exile in Pisaageofrevolutions.com and 4 more
  82. 1520Spain and then Mexico paid Moctezuma's heirs for Tacuba lands until a 1934 decree, and a Spanish dukedom still carries his nameboe.gob.es and 4 more
  83. 1527Atahualpa's captains hanged Huáscar's wives and children on the Cuzco road, burned a dead king's mummy, and killed Huáscar so Pizarro could not free himInternet Archive and 3 more
  84. 1546Charles V gave the Welser bank Venezuela for its loans, and a Spanish governor had the head of the firm's son killed there in 1546deutsche-biographie.de and 4 more
  85. 683Pakal took Palenque's throne at 12 after an enemy sacked the city and the king died, and his son cut three rulers out of the official king listmesoweb.com and 2 more
  86. 1764Jamaica granted Cudjoe's Maroons 1,500 acres by treaty in 1739, then shipped them to Nova Scotia in 1796 and auctioned the landnlj.gov.jm and 3 more
  87. 1796Chica da Silva, born enslaved, made a will naming 14 children as heirs and divided enslaved people among themtjmg.jus.br and 1 more
  88. 1792Portugal's 1792 sentence declared Tiradentes's children and grandchildren infamous, and Brazil later paid pensions to people who said they descended from himpt.wikisource.org and 3 more
  89. 1781A Cuzco chief sued for four years to be recognised as the last Inca's heir, then led the 1780 rebellion with the case still undecidedrevistas.pucp.edu.pe and 3 more
  90. 1710Christopher Codrington willed his Barbados plantations to a Church of England missionary society, which held enslaved people on them from 1710 to 1836Wikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  91. 1708The galleon San José sank off Cartagena in 1708 with nearly 600 people, and Colombia, Spain, a US salvage company and a Bolivian people all claim its cargomaritime-executive.com and 3 more
  92. 1560An Inca princess was married to the captain who captured her uncle, their daughter got a Spanish marquisate with the Inca estate of Yucay, and Inca claimants fought for it after the line died outBoletín Oficial del Estado and 4 more
  93. 1553Pedro de Valdivia's wife waited 27 years in Spain, learned on her voyage that he was dead, and the governor married to his former mistress did not pay her pensionmemoriachilena.gob.cl and 3 more
  94. 1552A Nahua healer's 1552 herbal was sent to Spain, passed through a royal pharmacist and a cardinal to the Vatican, and a pope returned it to Mexico in 1990library.csun.edu and 2 more
  95. 1550Pedrarias's grandsons killed the bishop of Nicaragua and raided Panama in 1550 to recover their father's lost wealthProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  96. 1541Pedro de Alvarado's widow took over his governorship of Guatemala and died in a mudflow two days laterprensalibre.com and 3 more
  97. 1539The Inquisition burned a lord of Texcoco in 1539 after his own relatives testified against him, and the map drawn for the fight over his land is in the Library of CongressLibrary of Congress and 4 more
  98. 1538Diego de Almagro willed his governorship of New Toledo to his mestizo son, Pizarro ignored the will, and the son's followers killed Pizarrorevista.agn.gob.pe and 2 more
  99. 1500The Inca chose a 13-year-old girl for sacrifice a year before her death, fed her elite food, and gave her coca and alcohol until she died on Llullaillaconationalgeographic.com and 2 more
  100. 790Bonampak's king had his heir presented on the painted walls of his temple, and the heir never ruledlugares.inah.gob.mx and 2 more
  101. 1472The chronicles say Nezahualcóyotl had his bride's betrothed killed in battle, executed their son for treason, and named a 7-year-old heir on his deathbeddocs.enriquedussel.com and 2 more
  102. 1471The dead Inca kings kept their palaces, servants and estates, and the Spanish seized their mummies in 1559 and lost them in a Lima hospitalInternet Archive and 5 more
  103. 1426Tezozómoc named one son heir; another son took the throne and killed him, and the cities he had ruled destroyed Azcapotzalcoisabelbueno.es and 2 more
  104. 1115The Mixtec codices record that Lord Eight Deer killed his wife's father to take Tilantongo, and that the boy he spared later killed him and married his daughterfamsi.org and 2 more
  105. 750Looters had dug all around it, but the Wari tomb at Castillo de Huarmey held 58 noblewomen and their queens, untouchednationalgeographic.com and 2 more
  106. 742Yaxchilan had no recorded king for ten years after Shield Jaguar died, and the son of his foreign second wife took the thronecambridge.org and 3 more
  107. 450The Lady of Cao was buried with war clubs and a crown, the first Moche woman found with a ruler's emblems, with a teenage girl beside herandina.pe and 3 more
  108. 250Looters emptied a Moche tomb at Sipán in 1987, police shot their leader, and the archaeologist called in found the Lord of Sipán untouched below itmotherjones.com and 3 more
  109. 1554The Popol Vuh says twin boys found their dead father's ballgame gear hidden in the roof, and it led them to the lords of the underworld who had killed himmesoweb.com and 1 more
  110. 1827Jamaican legend says the mistress of Rose Hall murdered her husbands; the records say her husband died in debt and she sold her claim for £200jamaicagreathouses.com and 2 more
  111. 1537A 1636 chronicle says the heir of Guatavita fasted six years in a cave and was covered in gold dust to take his uncle's lordship, and the rite gave the world El Doradobiblioteca-antologica.org and 3 more
  112. 1438Sarmiento records that Inca Viracocha named his illegitimate son Urco heir, fled the Chanca attack, and died stripped of his property after his other sons killed UrcoInternet Archive and 2 more