The widow of the great Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the three adult daughters he had with his first wife are reported to have reached an agreement to settle his estate.
The Il Resto del Carlino daily wrote on Monday that the estate has been ''divided equally in a manner compatible with legal parameters'' and that Pavarotti's villa here on the Adriatic coast would go to Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana, the daughters the tenor had with Adua Veroni.
He had a fourth daughter, Alice, with second wife Nicoletta Mantovani.
Pavarotti died September 6, 2007 at the age of 71 and left more than one will, including one which dealt only with his American assets which he left as a trust for Mantovani and Alice.
The 'American' will set off a legal battle between the heirs and was also the subject of a judicial probe here.
Prosecutor Massimo di Patria, the magistrate handling the probe, said on Monday that he hoped to wind up his investigation before the end of the summer.
The probe was opened in response to claims that Pavarotti may not have been of 'sound mind and body' when he drew up the American will six weeks before his death and a month after signing a will dealing with his overall estate.
After learning of the American will, Pavarotti's three daughters took action to determine whether this entitled Mantovani to more than the 50% of their father's estate which Italian law gave her.
They were entitled to the other 50% together with Alice.
In an interview to Il Resto del Carlino, attorney Anna Maria Bernini, who had been Pavarotti's lawyer and who brokered the accord, said that ''Nicoletta Mantovani and Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana are today linked by a true friendship. And the three sisters fully consider Alice, the Maestro's fourth daughter, to be their true sister''.
The accord to give the three elder sisters Pavarotti's summer home in Pesaro, the lawyer added, ''was a decision shared by all and made without any obligations or forms of compensation''.
Bernini also told the daily that no formal legal battle had ever taken place between Pavarotti's heirs over the inheritance and that she hoped that the probe into Pavarotti's mental state will be resolved quickly.
Pavarotti, Bernini observed, ''didn't want any wars or battles and the accord his heirs have now reached fully respects the philosophy of this great man''.
Doubts over Pavarotti's mental state had been raised by the notary who certified the American will.
Pesaro notary Luciano Buonanno claimed in an interview last October that the will had been ''totally drawn up by the lawyers''.
The notary said that when he raised objections to certain clauses, he was told by lawyers ''not to change anything''.
The trust into which Pavarotti's American assets were placed were said to be worth some 15 million euros.
They included an apartment in New York overlooking Central Park and an extensive art collection with works by Henri Matisse.
Lawyers for Mantovani said Pavarotti wanted his American assets to be placed in a trust so that she would have full possession of the real estate, the value of which would then be calculated in his estate's net worth.
Press estimates of Pavarotti's full estate have run from a low of 30 million euros to as much as 200 million euros.
However, he left significant debts. According to some press reports, he was overdrawn to the tune of 11 million euros in one bank account and held mortgages for another seven million euros.
