Bobby Fischer - Death, Estate Dispute, and Exhumation

Death, Estate Dispute, and Exhumation

On January 17, 2008, Fischer died from degenerative renal failure at the Reykjavik hospital. He originally had a urinary tract blockage but refused surgery or medications. Magnús Skúlason reported Fischer's last words as "Nothing is as healing as the human touch." On January 21, he was buried in the small Christian cemetery of Laugardælir church, outside the town of Selfoss, 60 km southeast of Reykjavík, after a Catholic funeral presided over by Fr. Jakob Rolland of the diocese of Reykjavik. In accordance with Fischer's wishes, no one else was present except Miyoko Watai, Garðar Sverrisson, and Garðar's family.

Fischer's estate was estimated at 140 million ISK (about 1 million GBP or US$2 million) and it quickly became the object of a legal battle involving claims from four parties with Miyoko Watai ultimately inheriting what remained of his estate after government claims. The four parties were Fischer's apparent Japanese wife Miyoko Watai, his alleged Philippine daughter Jinky Young and her mother Marilyn Young, his two American nephews Alexander and Nicholas Targ and their father Russell Targ, and the U.S. government (claiming unpaid taxes). According to a press release issued by Samuel Estimo, an attorney representing Jinky Young, the Supreme Court of Iceland ruled in December 2009 that Watai's claim of marriage to Fischer was invalidated because of her failure to present the original copy of their alleged marriage certificate. On June 16, 2010, the Court ruled in favor of a petition on behalf of Jinky Young to have Bobby Fischer's remains exhumed. This was performed on July 5, 2010 in the presence of a doctor, a priest, and other officials. A DNA sample was taken and Fischer's body was then reburied. On August 17, 2010, the Court announced that from the DNA sample it was determined that Fischer was not the father of Jinky Young. On March 3, 2011, a district court in Iceland ruled that Miyoko Watai, as Fischer's widow and heir, was therefore entitled to inherit his estate.