Initially, Aretha Franklin’s family believed that dividing the estate after her death in 2018 would be an easy task. Without her will, the famous singer’s fortune would be divided equally among her four sons.
But months after Franklin’s funeral, her family found a handwritten note of her wishes. With one sitting under the cushions of a sofa in his suburban Detroit home and another in a locked cupboard, the fortunes were in an uncertain state.
For the next four years, Franklin’s sons fought in Michigan’s probate court over which of the conflicting documents should prevail. On Monday, the matter will move to trial for the exact distribution of Franklin’s remaining property, property and music rights.
Craig A. Smith, an attorney for the singer’s second eldest son, Edward Franklin, said, “I think people would have wished it had been settled a week after she died.” “But they don’t blame anyone. That’s the reality.”
At issue in court is which document best reflects Franklin’s wishes before he died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76.
Her two sons, Edward Franklin and Kecalf Franklin, dated March 2014, found in a spiral notebook under a sofa cushion, are considered primary documents substantially in favor of Kecalf. argue that it should. Another son, Ted White, Jr., argues that the June 2010 document found in the cabinet should take precedence.
A jury may rule that neither document is a valid will and revert to dividing the singer’s estate equally among his children under Michigan law. A combined solution is also conceivable, where items from both documents are considered.
Franklin’s eldest son, Clarence Franklin, who suffers from mental illness and is under legal guardianship, has been in a long-running legal battle after a 2014 will that would have left him with a much smaller inheritance than his siblings. have participated. But in recent weeks, his attorneys have reached a settlement regarding the share of the undisclosed estate. As a result, they will not take sides in the trial, said Joseph Butiglieri, attorney for Clarence Franklin’s guardian.
A groundbreaking musician hailed as the Queen of Soul, Franklin has won 18 Grammy Awards, had over 100 Billboard chart singles, owned four houses, several cars and furs. , jewels, gold records, and other star adornments. After her death, Smith said her estate was estimated at about $18 million, although other appraisals suggest the figure may be lower.
However, Franklin was known to be extremely secretive about his finances and left behind a large tax liability. In 2021, her estate will raise about $8 million federally by securing some of the new income from music royalties and projects like the recent Hollywood biopic starring Jennifer Hudson. An agreement was reached with the Internal Revenue Service to pay the income tax.
At the heart of the trial are dozens of pages of Franklin’s scribbles and wishes filled with strike-throughs and inserts. The process of interpreting the intentions of the deceased from lines of handwritten documents is a confusing and controversial process that has become a fascinating storyline for the HBO series Succession.In the show’s final season, the patriarchal heirs struggled to crack the code Addendum written in pencil To his last wish, found locked in a safe.
Efforts to uncover Franklin’s true desires uncovered three voicemail messages recorded months before Franklin’s death, in which Franklin prepared with estate attorney Henry Gricks. They were discussing another will that they had.
In a courtroom message earlier this year, Franklin said he had already decided on some details about his estate, including putting his piano up for auction at Sotheby’s, but others A meeting at a lawyer’s office where he said he would leave the decision to the future.
Ted White, Jr., Franklin’s father and first husband, asked the court to uphold documents prepared by Mr. Gricks, an experienced estate planning attorney, during the last three years of Franklin’s life. An expression of her recent desires. But the judge overseeing the case, Jennifer S. Callahan, dismissed the document from trial consideration, citing Gricks’ testimony that he left the impression that Franklin was “undecided” about the will. . .
Judge Callahan said in a May ruling, “For this court, the attorneys who were hired to personally memorialize the deceased’s estate plan were not satisfied that the deceased had not yet reached a final, complete plan. It’s clear that they believed they weren’t,” he said.
This leaves two documents for the jury of six to consider.
According to the 2014 document, three of Franklin’s sons, excluding Clarence, will receive their mother’s music royalties equally, but Kekalf will be the focus of her personal fortune distribution. rice field. According to the document, Kekalf will receive two of the four houses and the singer’s car, but the number was not specified.
Kecalf-Franklin’s lawyers argued in court documents that the 2014 document should be considered a legal will because it was the most recent handwritten document outlining Franklin’s plans. (Whether or not the singer officially signed the document is disputed. One side claims that the smiley face paired with “Franklin” on the final page of the document represents her signature. but the other side disagrees.)
Smith said his client, Edward Franklin, would benefit more financially if the will were deemed invalid, but he believed that “that’s what Aretha wanted.” He said he supported the 2014 document because
Mr. White is adamantly opposed to the 2014 will, and his attorney, Kurt A. Olson, wrote in court papers: sofa cushions. “
Olson pointed to the fact that the document was notarized and that Franklin signed each page as evidence in support of the 2010 document that specified weekly and monthly allowances for his four sons.
White has yet to sign a settlement over part of Clarence Franklin’s estate, which will eventually need to be approved by a judge.
Witnesses in the trial, which is set to end in less than a week in Oakland County probate court in Pontiac, Michigan, will likely include some of Franklin’s sons. The person who notarized the 2010 estate document. handwriting expert. Owens initially served as Franklin’s personal representative (a role similar to that of executor), but was forced to resign due to disagreements within his family.
Michigan estate attorney Nicholas E. Papathifakis, who currently serves as Franklin’s personal representative, is not taking sides in the heir dispute.
Even after the trial is over and the estate is settled, there will still be issues that require cooperation within the torn family. Edward Franklin’s attorney, Smith, said unanimous consent would be required to hold a biopic or memorial concert unless the heirs appointed a manager to manage those decisions.
“I hope everyone can get along a little better after this issue is resolved,” he said.
