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Singer Aretha Franklin’s final will will be heard in a trial starting next Monday to decide which of two handwritten wills will be honored.
The lawsuit involves millions of dollars in copyright royalties. Franklin was a music superstar known for big hits like “Respect” and “Think”. She had four sons of hers, but never made a typed formal will, despite her longstanding health problems and historical heritage.
Instead, she left two handwritten documents, including one found on the couch. His son Ted White II primarily believes the 2010 document should govern the estate, but his sons Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin support the 2014 document. are doing. The two were found in their suburban Detroit home a few months after Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in 2018 at the age of 76.
My niece, Sabrina Owens, has agreed to be my personal representative or executor.
Months after Franklin’s funeral, Owens found a handwritten will dated 2010. Another handwritten will, dated 2014, was found in a notebook under a cushion at Franklin’s home. Both suggest that their sons share the income from music and copyright.
The old will lists White and Owens as co-executors. It also said Kecalf and Edward Franklin “must take business classes and have a certificate or degree” to benefit.
In the 2014 edition, White’s name as executor has been crossed out and replaced by Kecalf Franklin. Kecalf Franklin and his grandchildren will acquire his mother’s main residence in Bloomfield Hills, which was valued at $1.1 million at the time his mother died, but is now much more than that. worth exceeding.
Michigan law states that a handwritten will is valid if it is in the deceased’s handwriting, dated and signed.
