October 25, 2007 19:52

Pavarotti was lucid signing will, says manager

Late tenor 'knew exactly what he was doing'

Late tenor Luciano Pavarotti was aware of what he was signing when he put his name on his will before he died, it was reported today.

Despite the tenor’s battle with pancreatic cancer, “he knew exactly what he was doing” when he signed the will which saw his second wife receive an estate valued at $21.4million, his manager Terri Robson told Reuters.

Nicoletta Mantovani had a four-year-old daughter with Pavarotti, and it was reported that she was at odds over the will with his three daughters from a previous marriage.

According to reports, a handwritten first will was written in December 2006, instructing that most of his estate would go to his four daughters, while a second will in June 2007 saw a split between the four daughters and Mantovani. A third will is the one that sees his wife inherit the entire US estate.

However, Robson told Reuters that the handwritten note was no less favourable to Mantovani than the most recent will.

--By our New York staff.
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