A jury in Michigan has ruled that a handwritten will discovered under a couch cushion is valid, settling a long-running dispute over the estate of Aretha Franklin.
The will, which was dated 2014, leaves Franklin’s music royalties and bank funds to be split evenly between her three sons, Edward, Kecalf, and Clarence, while her youngest child, Kecalf, will inherit her gated mansion in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
The will was found by Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Owens, in 2018, after the singer’s death. However, her other son, Ted White Jr., challenged the will, arguing that it was not valid because it was not signed by two witnesses.
“With all the time I spent working with her administratively … every other document that she ever signed was something that was done conventionally and legally,” White told the jury via his lawyer, per Fox News.
Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Owens, found the documents in her suburban Detroit home after Franklin died in 2018 without a formal will.
“She would use the kitchen and living room — that was about it,” Owens said in a written testimony that was read during the trial. “So, when I got to the sofa, I lifted up that far right cushion and there was three notebooks there.”
A representative for Franklin’s sons, Kecalf and Edward Franklin, argued that the newer version of the will was valid during closing arguments. “You can take your will and leave it on the kitchen counter. It’s still your will,” he said.
The jury, after less than an hour of deliberation, ruled in favor of the 2014 will, finding that it was validly executed. The jury also found that White Jr. was not entitled to any of Franklin’s estate.
The ruling is a victory for Franklin’s sons, who had been fighting over her estate for years. It also brings an end to a long and public dispute that had tarnished the legacy of the Queen of Soul.
“I’m very, very happy,” Kecalf said after the verdict came out. “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.”
White’s attorney said, “We were here to see what the jury would rule. We’ll live with it.”\
BREAKING: A document handwritten by Aretha Franklin and found in her couch after her 2018 death is a valid Michigan will, a jury said. https://t.co/RX5HrrXrOw
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 11, 2023
