Of the seven Football World Cups he played in, the character in this new report from Heritage Special reached the final of five and emerged champion in four.
Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo emerged victorious, as a player, in the Swedish (1958) and Chilean (1962) World Cups. As a coach, he lifted the cup in 1970, in Mexico; In 1994, as technical coordinator, he became four-time world champion.
He ended his journey at the age of 92. With his health already weakened, he was admitted to a hospital in Rio de Janeiro when his clinical condition worsened, dying on January 5th of this year.
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The departure of Velho Lobo, as he was affectionately known, reheated another dispute that had already been fought off the field for some years: division of your inheritancevalued at around R$ 13 million.
The former football coach chose to succession of your assets through a will. In the document, he expressed his wishes in a decision worthy of the last chapter of a 9pm soap opera: he left the majority of his assets to one of his four children, the youngest Mário César.
To better understand Zagallo’s heritage story, you need to go back in time. Confusion in the family surrounding the patriarch’s inheritance began in 2012, when the former football coach’s wife, Alcina de Castro Zagallo, died.
At the time, the children agreed to leave Zagallo as administrator of the assets and gave up their share of the inheritance. But four years later, in 2016, Paulo Jorge, Maria Emília and Maria Cristina regretted it and started a dispute over the estate.
A split formed and divided the family. Zagallo joined his youngest son, Mário César, considered the only one who took care of his health and his assets. The other children of Velho Lobo denied this information and said, in a note sent to the press, that Zagallo had been induced by Mário César to believe he had “been abandoned”.
In the same statement, the heirs alleged that they were prevented from seeing their father several times and that they had access to unusual movements in Zagallo’s bank accounts, with withdrawals of amounts incompatible with the elderly man’s standard of living.
Mário César said that his brothers were “wanting to appear” after seven years, a period in which, according to him, he was alone in charge of their father’s care. The youngest son even said in interviews that Zagallo had written a document that prohibited visits to his three children during their hospitalizations.
The quid proquó gained materiality at the opening of the will, after the death of the four-time football champion: Mário César was left with 62,5% of the goods and the other brothers, with 12,5% each. But did Zagallo act within the rules of the game when distributing his assets?
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Can you do that, Arnaldo?
According to Brazilian legislation, the existence of a will requires that the succession of assets comply with two rules.
The first is that half of the goods must be allocated to necessary heirs. Article 1,815 of the Civil Code stipulates that this group includes descendants (children and grandchildren), ascendants (parents and grandparents) and spouses.
Whoever is in one of these positions guarantees the right to receive, in an equitable manner, the mandatory division of 50% of the inheritance assets, named as legitimate. That’s what happened to Zagallo’s children: all four received 12,5% each of the assets left by the father.
The other 50% of the assets are listed as inheritance available. In it, the allocation of assets is free and can benefit anyone in a will, according to article 1,789 of the Civil Code. Thus, Zagallo left the remaining 50% of his assets to Mário César, who ended up benefiting, at the end of the succession, with 62,5% of Zagallo’s inheritance.
Roberta Paganini Toledo, partner in the family and succession law practice at Tortoro, Madureira & Ragazzi Advogados, explains that Zagallo’s decision is within the rules that dictate patrimonial succession.
“There is no illegality in benefiting only one of the necessary heirs, in this case one of the children, with the available part of the estate of the initiator of the inheritance. This benefited heir will also not lose the right to receive part of the legitimate inheritancewhich is up to you, benefiting from a larger share”, highlights the specialist.
And when there is no will in the field? Lawyer Roberta Toledo says that the sharing, in this case, follows an order. Descendants, in the case of children, appear first on the list of beneficiaries. “They compete with the spouse or partner of the deceased, depending on the property regime adopted at the time of the marriage or the formation of the stable union”, he says.
In the absence of descendants, the ascendants (parents and grandparents) inherit. If there are no descendants or ascendants, the spouse or partner inherits the entire inheritance. If there is no longer any necessary heir, the assets are passed on to collateral relatives, such as brothers, uncles and cousins.
Fight remains open
As soon as the division of the assets became known, Paulo Jorge, Maria Emília and Maria Cristina filed new questions in court. From what is already known about the case, the trio do not want the will to be annulled or changes to the division of assets proposed by Zagallo.
They allege that alleged donations were made by their father during his lifetime, which may have reduced their share of the inheritance received. If they can present evidence about this, a new chapter will be opened in the discussion of the Old Wolf’s estate.
“To avoid litigation, the donation must prove that it originates from the available part of the inheritance and whether or not there is an exemption from donation”, explains lawyer Ligia Bertaggia de Almeida Costa, consultant in the area of family law and succession at NHM Advogados.
Translating into words: the exemption from collation is a valid legal instrument if the donor declares that the donated asset belonged to the available part of his estate, that which can have any destination in the will. If this requirement is met, the heir is not obliged, for example, to account for what he received.
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Brazilians who are immersed in succession conflicts and suspect irregularities in the distribution of assets received as inheritance need to be aware of two situations, which may be questioned in court, according to the NHM Advogados consultant.
The first of these is disrespect for the rules of legitimate inheritance, which occurs when the owner of the will allocates more than 50% of the assets and exceeds the limit of the division that must be carried out equally among the necessary heirs.
The second suspicion concerns the case where the will was drawn up under duress, fraud or when the testator was unable to express his will freely and consciously. “In these cases, the will may be completely annulled or, if the irregularities affect only a few provisions, the clauses that violate the rights of the necessary heirs may be annulled,” explains the expert.
It cannot be emphasized enough: fights over inheritance, especially in large families or those with large fortunes, will be increasingly present in everyday life. “The most important thing is that all evidence is presented, analyzed and that Justice prevails, resolving conflicts that persist not only in life, but also after death”, reinforces lawyer Ligia Bertaggia de Almeida Costa, from NHM Advogados.
