Daughter versus stepmother

Daughter versus stepmother: Cisneros inheritance feud erupts into bitter legal showdown The three daughters of the late Venezuelan billionaire Oswaldo Cisneros from his first marriage are locked in litigation with his widow over the inheritance rights of six children she and their father adopted abroad, in a dispute over a fortune tied to Digitel, oil and real estate. Claudia Susana, Maritza Blanca and María Ella Cisneros Fontanals are involved in litigation concerning the inheritance rights of the six Cisneros-Blavia children: Carmen Elena, Camila Roxana, Alfonso Olaf, Oswaldo Antonio, Laura Gissel and Carla Giovana. The children were adopted in Romania and Colombia by Oswaldo and his widow, Mireya Blavia de Cisneros, with whom he had no biological children. The feud began after Oswaldo's death in Miami on November 8, 2020. It concerns the adopted children's inheritance rights, his testamentary arrangements and control and administration of an estate linked to telecommunications giant Digitel, oil, real estate and other businesses. Venezuelan government sources say tax authorities valued the estate at more than $10 billion. Oswaldo's closed will, registered in Venezuela in December 2017, named Mireya and all nine children as his 'sole and universal heirs'. The sisters' lawyers have questioned those arrangements, alleging they disadvantaged the three daughters by giving the six adopted children greater collective influence over family interests. The litigation has been accompanied by allegations that Mireya sought majority control over family trusts and businesses through the six children's voting strength, diminishing the sisters' influence and inheritance interests. Claudia, who described herself in the proceedings as a legitimate, compulsory and testamentary heir, has led the legal fight. On May 12, 2021, she challenged the six children's standing, arguing that the Romanian and Colombian adoption judgements had never undergone exequátur, the procedure by which certain foreign judgements are formally recognised in Venezuela. Without it, she maintained, those judgements could not produce legal effects in Venezuela or establish the six as Oswaldo's children for inheritance purposes. She won the first round. On August 3, 2021, the Social Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal held that the adoptions required exequátur, found that the six lacked standing in the relevant succession proceedings and ordered related proceedings archived. But Mireya sought constitutional review, and on January 31, 2022, the Constitutional Chamber annulled that ruling. It found that qualifying international adoptions governed by the Hague Convention did not require the additional exequátur the Social Chamber had demanded. The decision defeated the attempt to exclude the six on that ground, though it did not resolve every issue in the dispute. Claudia also turned to the criminal courts. In July 2021, a Caracas court admitted her complaint against Mireya alleging private violence, extortion and association to commit crimes. She alleged that her stepmother subjected her to threats, coercion and other unlawful pressure to compel her to perform or tolerate acts she was not legally required to accept, and engaged in conduct intended to secure a financial advantage or cause her financial loss. The admission was not a finding of guilt, and the available material does not establish its final outcome. Venezuelan government sources have since put the adoptions back in focus, alleging they were part of a long-term arrangement that boosted the Cisneros-Blavia side's voting strength and gave Mireya's branch majority influence over family structures, potentially at the sisters' expense. One official alleged irregularities and possible fabrication, claiming the adoptions were used in a scheme to obtain majority voting control of the family trust. These allegations have not been established by the court rulings. The same sources allege the SENIAT tax authority calculated a potential inheritance-tax liability exceeding $3 billion; one official claimed there was no record of payment and said authorities were examining inheritance and succession-tax obligations. The figures and payment status have not been independently verified. Government sources have also alleged wider personal and corporate tax liabilities, underinvestment, bribery, political kickbacks and irregularities involving family-linked businesses, including Digitel, one of Venezuela's largest mobile operators. Officials have alleged failures to meet investment commitments and possible corruption in business dealings during Nicolás Maduro's presidency, and government sources have described Mireya as a close ally of the former president, raising suspicions she has continued lobbying on his behalf. Those claims require independent corroboration. A legal source representing Mireya disputed aspects of the government's allegations, while acknowledging underinvestment and unfulfilled commitments and attributing some of those problems to US sanctions affecting Venezuela's financial system. A legal representative said Mireya would continue to contest Claudia's legal challenges.