Jorge Luis Borges' Widow Dies Without Will, Leaving Iconic Argentine Writer's Literary Legacy in Limbo

The legacy of iconic Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges is up in the air following the recent death of his widow, María Kodama, who didn't leave a will behind.

Kodama, an author, translator and professor, also ran a foundation called Fundación Internacional Jorge Luis Borges, dedicated to the work of her late husband, the Associated Press reports. She had collaborated with Borges on various works, and spent the years since his 1986 death striving to maintain his legacy as an Argentinian literary great. After her March 26 passing, the news that she'd left behind no plans for the rights to Borges' work caused shock.

Her lawyer, Fernando Soto, made the preliminary announcement that Kodama, who died of breast cancer in Buenos Aires, didn't have a will. He claimed she hadn't liked to "talk about these issues," per the AP, and that she would not have drawn up a will on her own, without his assistance.

Because the couple didn't have children, Kodama's estate — and the rights to Borges' archive — is undetermined, and could be turned over to the state under Argentinian law if there are no heirs.

However, five of Kodama's nephews and nieces headed to court the day after Soto's announcement to advocate for the right to her estate, multiple outlets report. "This Tuesday, five nephews and nieces, children of Jorge Kodama [María's late brother], presented themselves, proving the link. They are in Argentina. Now there are heirs, which relieves me a lot," Soto told AFP.

Kodama was reportedly estranged from her brother, also named Jorge, and his children, and had never admitted to her lawyer or friends that she had nephews or nieces at all, the Associated Press reports. Because she had allegedly "denied [their] existence," according to Santiago Llach, a specialist on Borges, her lawyer was thrilled to learn that both her estate and her husband's works would likely stay in the family.

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The Buenos Aires Times reports that a writ has indeed been filed in a local court, signed by Kodama's five estranged nieces and nephews (her brother Jorge's children): Mariana del Socorro Kodama, Martín Nicolás Kodama, Matías Kodama, María Belén Kodama and María Victoria Kodama.

"The nephews and nieces will probably appoint an administrator, not an executor, to look after [Borges'] work in the interim, until the declaration of heirs is issued," Soto said, according to the Buenos Aires Times.

Kodama reportedly told La Nación newspaper last August that she planned to split Borges' literary works up between a U.S. university and a Japanese one, per the Buenos Aires Times. It's unclear what became of those plans.

Borges and Kodama were only married for two months before his death in Geneva in 1986, though the Buenos Aires Times reports that the couple had been together for many years, "since her youth." She also collaborated with him on various works, the outlet reports.