A Michigan judge has ruled that the sons of the late Aretha Franklin will be awarded the legendary singer’s estate, pointing to a 2014 handwritten will found on Franklin’s couch after her death in 2018.
The ruling comes more than four months after a Michigan jury found a will found wedged between Franklin’s couch cushions in her home to be valid. The 2014 document invalidated a 2010 will found in a cabinet in Franklin’s home. Both suicide notes were discovered around the same time in 2019.
The judge ruled that Ms. Franklin’s son, Kecalf Franklin, and his children, the singer’s only grandchildren, will acquire her primary residence in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The main residence was valued at $1.1 million at the time of Franklin’s death, but is now worth much more than that.
Franklin’s son, Ted White II, was bequeathed real estate in Detroit. His home has already been sold for $300,000, and White will receive the proceeds. His third son, Edward Franklin, was given a separate estate.
A fourth property owned by the “I Say a Little Prayer” artist was not mentioned in his will and will be sold. The profits will be divided among Mr. Franklin’s four sons, including his eldest son, Clarence Franklin, who is not involved in the will litigation.
“This was an important step forward. We have narrowed down the remaining issues,” Kecurf Franklin attorney Charles McKelvey told The Associated Press.
The 2010 plan lists Mr. White and Mr. Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Owens, as co-executors of the estate. It also said Kekalf Franklin and Edward Franklin would “need to take business classes and earn a certificate or degree” to benefit from the legacy.
Ahead of the trial, White’s attorney Kurt Olson defended the 2010 will, telling The Associated Press that the document was notarized and signed and that subsequent wills were “merely drafts.” he said.
“If this document were a will, it would have been more considerate than writing it in a spiral notebook and putting it under the couch cushion,” Olson said.
The 2014 will that won in court makes no mention of such a requirement for Kecalf and Edward.
When the “Respect” singer passed away five years ago, her family believed she didn’t leave behind a will directing how her estate was managed. Ms. Franklin’s four children expected her assets to be divided equally, according to Michigan law, if an individual dies without a will or spouse.
But in 2019, Owens searched Franklin’s home and discovered two handwritten wills filled with graffiti and difficult to decipher text. Both wills agreed that the singer’s sons would share in the proceeds of their mother’s estate, including continued income from their mother’s recordings, but they differed over who would be the executor, leaving the mother’s children made them fight each other.
Owens served as the executor of the “Chain of Fools” singer’s estate shortly after his death. She retired in 2020 to “calm rifts within her family,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
Since then, Franklin’s estate has paid the bills, settled millions of dollars in tax debts with the Internal Revenue Service, and generated income through music royalties and other intellectual property. However, disputes continued among the family regarding the will.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.