Five years after his death, it is still not fulfilled Aretha Franklin’s last will. And it is that the children of the music superstar are facing each other in a legal battle to determine which of the two handwritten wills left by the American singer, including one found on the cushions of a sofa, has the final word on the fate of his inheritance.
The “Queen of Soul,” known for hits like “Respect” (1967) o “I Say a Little Prayer” (1968), did not leave a formal will despite his health problems. She performed in November 2017 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York and her last public performance was in Philadelphia, in August 2017, and she died at age 76 in 2018 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
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Aretha Franklin’s estate is estimated at $4.1 million, mostly in cash and real estatethough creative works and intellectual property were undervalued by only a nominal $1. Since 2020, the estate has paid at least $8.1 million to the US Internal Revenue Service.
The inheritance must be divided among the four children of the American star, but the existence of two wills now pits one of them, Ted White II, 59, against his brothers Kecalf Franklin (53) and Edward Franklin (66). The first believes that documents dated 2010 should primarily control the estate, while the other two favor a 2014 document.
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What the two wills of Aretha Franklin say
Throughout his extensive career, Franklin racked up 18 Grammy Awards, including one for artistic career. Among his greatest hits are “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (1968), “Day Dreaming” (1972), “Jump to It” (1982), “Freeway of Love” (1985), y “A Rose Is Still A Rose,” (1998), and in 1987 she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The death of Aretha, who sang at Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration in 2009, shocked her fans and her body was transported in a 1940 Cadillac hearse to a Detroit museum, where it was cheered by thousands of mourners. It was immediately known that the singer had died without a will, which meant that her four children would likely share assets worth millions, including suburban Detroit real estate, furs, dresses, jewelry, and future royalties from his works.
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A niece, Sabrina Owens, agreed to be a personal representative or executor to pacify the Franklin clan, but resigned in 2020. Just months after the death, relatives They found a handwritten will dated 2010 on a piece of furniture on Artetha’s estate and another handwritten will dated 2014 inside a notebook under cushions.. Although there are differences between the documents, both indicate that the children would share the income from the music and royalties.
The 2010 will lists White and Owens as co-executors and says Kecalf and Edward Franklin “must take business classes and earn a certificate or degree” to benefit from the estate. But the 2014 will crosses out White’s name as executor and lists Kecalf Franklin instead. In addition, Kecalf Franklin and his grandchildren were to keep the Bloomfield Hills home, which was valued at $1.1 million in 2018.
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In both documents, Aretha Franklin instructed her children to take care of their older brother Clarence (who lives in a special psychiatric residence after being diagnosed with a mental illness) and “supervise his needs”. He also wrote that his dresses could be auctioned off or go to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
“Two contradictory wills cannot be admitted for proof. In such cases, the most recent will revokes the previous will,” explained Charles McKelvie, attorney for Kecalf Franklin. But White’s attorney, Kurt Olson, said the 2010 will was notarized and signed, while the latest version “is merely a draft.” “If this document was intended to be a will, there would have been more care than putting it in a spiral notebook under a sofa,” he said.
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