Aretha Franklin’s sons clash over her wishes in a double will lawsuit
PONTIAC, Michigan — Two sons of the late singer Aretha Franklin offered opposing opinions Monday about the Queen of Soul’s dying wishes, testifying in an unusual trial that will determine whether a 2014 handwritten document found in couch cushions will guide her legacy .
Franklin died in 2018 at age 76 without a formal, typed will, and five years later, her estate is still stuck in a suburban Detroit court after a niece found several sets of handwritten papers at her home.
The matter before a jury: Does a 2014 document count as a will under Michigan law? If so, it could surpass a 2010 handwritten will found in a locked cabinet at the same time. However, the older version was notarized and repeatedly signed by Franklin.
Ted White II, a son who played guitar during his mother’s performances, is in favor of the 2010 document.
“With all the time I’ve worked administratively with her … every other document she ever signed was something that was done conventionally and legally,” White, 60, with the help of an attorney, told the jury.
However, he acknowledged that the 2010 will found at the same time in 2019 was also written by his mother’s hand.
There are differences between the documents, although they both appear to indicate that Franklin’s four sons would share music and copyright revenues.
Four large posters with pages from the 2014 document were presented to the jury.
That version deleted White’s name as executor of the estate and named another son, Kecalf Franklin, in his place. Kecalf Franklin and grandchildren would get his mother’s main home in Bloomfield Hills, which was valued at $1.1 million at her death, but is worth much more today.
Kecalf Franklin, 53, said he doesn’t think it’s unusual for important papers like a will to be discovered in the living room.
Asked by his attorney where Aretha Franklin often read mail, made important calls, signed documents, and even slept, Kecalf Franklin said repeatedly, “on the couch.”
A niece, Sabrina Owens, who managed the estate immediately after Franklin’s death, did not appear in court on Monday, but her testimony from a formal interview was read. She explained how she was determined to search Franklin’s home for critical documents.
“She would use the kitchen and living room — that was about it,” Owens said. “So when I got to the couch, I lifted that far right cushion and there were three notebooks there.”
The jury will hear closing arguments on Tuesday.
The latest public accounting filed in March showed the estate had $3.9 million in revenue in the previous 12-month period and a similar amount in expenses, including more than $900,000 in legal fees for several companies.
Total assets were pegged at $4.1 million, mostly cash and real estate, though Franklin’s creative works and intellectual property were undervalued by only a nominal $1.
