Maldini was born in Milan to Cesare Maldini and Maria Luisa De Mezzi. He has been married to Venezuelan former model Adriana Fossa since December 1994. The couple have two sons, Christian (born 14 June 1996) and Daniel (born 11 October 2001), who both have been signed by Maldini's former club Milan and played in the youth teams. His father Cesare was also a footballer who also played as a defender, captained Milan, and represented the Italy national team, later going on to become a coach. Throughout Cesare's managerial career, he coached his son both in the Italy under-21 side and the senior team, as well as at Milan, also managing several other teams. On 3 April 2016, Paolo's father Cesare died at the age of 84; his mother died later that year, on 28 July.