Walewska’s family and widower dispute inheritance of 23 properties

Family members of Walewska Oliveira, Olympic champion with the Brazilian volleyball team, are in dispute with Ricardo Alexandre Mendes, widower of the former player, for the position of executor of the inheritance left by the athlete – the former athlete died in September, aged 43. The person determined to perform the role will be responsible for listing all assets and the names of the heirs of the athlete’s assets.

According to the UOL website, Walewska owned 23 apartments and cash investments until 2019. As she did not leave a will, the rightful executor is Ricardo, with whom the athlete was married for 20 years. He had requested separation shortly before the player’s death, but the divorce process was never completed. There is no exact value of the athlete’s assets.

Walewska’s family claims, however, that Ricardo is “unworthy” of the position of inventor and asks the Court that the role be taken over by Maria Aparecida Moreira, the athlete’s mother and business partner. They allege that the husband cheated on the player, had a daughter out of wedlock and also did not help pay for the funeral, which took place in Belo Horizonte. According to Ricardo, his presence was blocked by the player’s family.

“Her closest friends and family know that motherhood was always Walewska’s dream and that the decision not to have children was an imposition from Ricardo, which Walewska accepted in the name of the relationship they maintained and to which she was always devoted. discovery had left Walewska completely destroyed, which will be demonstrated and proven by the letters she left and which are in the possession of the police”, says an excerpt from the document published by the portal.

Also according to the publication, Ricardo claims to have the right to be the executor and presented to the Court a life insurance certificate in which Walewska indicates her husband and mother as beneficiaries. He also asks Maria Aparecida to share with him the payments on a loan taken out by the couple for the purchase of an apartment.

Walewska died on September 21 after falling from the 17th floor onto the balcony of an apartment on the first floor of the building where she lived. A rescue unit tried to resuscitate the athlete, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. The case was investigated, under secrecy, by the 78th Police District (Jardins) and the police investigation was reported to the Judiciary at the end of October.

Walewska’s career

Born in Belo Horizonte, Walewska began her professional volleyball career in 1995, playing for Minas Tênis Clube, a team where she remained until 1998, when she was called up by coach Bernardinho for the first time for the Brazilian team. She was just 19 years old. The player won a gold medal with the Brazilian team at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1999. The following year, the center helped Brazil win bronze at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

After a period away from the national team, she was called up again by coach José Roberto Guimarães and was part of the team that came fourth in the 2004 Athens Games. Walewska worked with the two great coaches of Brazilian volleyball: Zé Roberto and Bernardinho. Both mourned the athlete’s death, as well as other personalities and sports entities. The Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) stated that Walewska was a “special player” and that her career in the sport will be “always remembered and revered”.

After she retired, Wal, as she was called, became a “specialist in leadership and high performance”, as she described herself, and launched the biography “Outras Redes”, the documentary “O Último Ato” and the OlympicMind podcast. Published in January this year, the biography, whose preface was written by Bernardinho, tells the memories and challenges that the player faced in life and in volleyball, to which she dedicated herself for 30 years.