Aretha Franklin’s Sons Headed To Trial Over Estate
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Aretha Franklin’s sons are headed to court as the battle over her estate continues. The singer left behind two wills after she passed in 2018. According to the Associated Press, the legal process could get complicated as Michigan law allows documents, including forms with scribbles, scratch-outs, and other handwritten amendments, to be considered.
Neither of the Queen Of Soul’s final wishes exists in the form of a formal, typed memo. The two wills in question, one found inside of a couch cushion, have two different dates and two different guidelines. Both were discovered in her Detroit home after her death.
The 2010 edition is favored by the vocalist’s son Ted White II while a 2014 document is preferred by her sons Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin. In the first version of the will, White and the singer’s niece, Sabrina Owens, are listed as co-executors and says Kecalf and Edward Franklin “must take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” to benefit from the estate.
The more recent document removes White’s name as executor and has Kecalf Franklin in his place. It also fails to mention the business classes noted in the first will. Kecalf and his grandchildren would also inherit his mother’s main home in Bloomfield Hills, which was valued at $1.1 million and has since appreciated in value. Both documents assert her oldest son, Clarence, who lives under a guardianship, must be regularly supported.
The trial is set to begin on Monday (July 10) as the family hopes to carry out her commands. The outlet reported possessions left behind are valued at millions of dollars including furs, gowns, jewelry, property, and royalties.
“Two inconsistent wills cannot both be admitted to probate. In such cases, the most recent will revokes the previous will,” Charles McKelvie, a lawyer for Kecalf Franklin, said in a court filing in favor of the 2014 document as reported by AP.
White’s attorney, Kurt Olson, said the 2010 will was notarized and signed, unlike the 2014 document.
“If this document were intended to be a will there would have been more care than putting it in a spiral notebook under a couch cushion,” Olson said.
In 2022, Franklin’s estate paid off $7.8 million in tax debt after an April 2021 deal between the estate and IRS to accelerate the payoff schedule which resulted in limited quarterly payments.
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