Aretha Franklin's Son Kecalf Breaks Silence After Estate Dispute Win
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Aretha Franklin's son Kecalf Franklin is speaking out after a jury sided with him and his brother, Edward Franklin, in the dispute over their late mother's estate.
On Tuesday, July 11, a Michigan jury determined that a 2014 will handwritten by the late Queen of Soul herself will stand as the official document in the distribution of her estate.
The ruling comes as a victory to Kecalf and Edward, who advocated for the use of the 2014 document, which was found under a sofa cushion and signed by the singer prior to her death in 2018.
Another one of the "Respect" singer's sons, Ted White II, instead believed that a 2010 document should have been considered as her official will.
But following the jury's verdict on Tuesday, Kecalf broke his silence on the matter, stating, "I'm very, very happy," according to ABC News. "I just wanted my mother's wishes to be adhered to."
"We just want to exhale right now. It's been a long five years for my family, my children," he added.
When the music legend died of pancreatic cancer at age 76 in 2018, she was believed to have died without a will. It wasn't until a year later, in 2019, that the two documents were found in her Michigan home.
The 2010 will would have appointed Ted as a co-executor of his mother's estate, while the 2014 named Kecalf and Franklin's niece Sabrina Owens as co-executors.
During Tuesday's closing arguments, a lawyer for Kecalf argued that the nature of where the 2014 will was found has nothing to do with its validity.
"You can take your will and leave it on the kitchen counter. It’s still your will,” Charles McKelvie told the jury, per the BBC.
Edward's lawyer, Craig Smith, also shed light on the document's opening line, which reads, "To whom it may concern and being of sound mind, I write my will and testimony," which he said was Franklin "speaking from the grave."
