The Inheritance of Eva Paole
Fall is here once again. The leaves are falling. The air is crisp. Pumpkin is the go-to ingredient… It’s time to sit back, sip a warm beverage, and indulge in a spooky tale of estate planning…
In life, Rufino Otero was a wealthy and powerful Argentine land baron. He died in 1983; unmarried and without children … or so it seemed. Actually, Otero did have a child; an illegitimate daughter named Eva Paole. – The result of an affair between Otero and Eva’s mother, Josefa.
Eva grew up believing her mother’s then “significant other” was Eva’s biological father. This was not the case. Whatever the reason, Josefa never confided in Eva the relationship with Otero. The secret of the affair followed Josefa to the grave.
Sometime after Josefa’s death however, Eva began to hear rumors; rumors that Otero might in fact, be her biological father. Eva was intrigued. She gathered enough evidence to pursue a paternity suit and found herself in a nine year court battle.
However, just six weeks into the legal proceedings an odd thing occurred… Rufino Otero’s tomb was desecrated; his corpse stolen and switched for another.
Authorities planned to exhume Otero’s body. They were now forced to seek a new course of action. Instead of Otero they unearthed the grave of his mother and exhumed her.
The DNA was a match. Eva was proven to be Otero’s biological daughter. She retired from her position as a maid and inherited the bulk of Otero’s estate; the equivalent of forty million U.S. dollars.
To date, Rufino Otero’s body has never been found.
