Jury decides 2014 document found in Aretha Franklin’s couch is a valid will
The decision is a critical turn in a dispute that has turned the music superstar’s sons against each other.
Aretha Franklin's granddaughter Grace Franklin, 17, smiles while embracing her family members after the jury decided in favor of a 2014 document during a trial over her grandmother's wills at Oakland County Probate Court in Pontiac, Mich., on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A document handwritten by singer Aretha Franklin and found in her couch after her 2018 death is a valid Michigan will, a jury said Tuesday, a critical turn in a dispute that has turned her sons against each other.
It’s a victory for Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin whose lawyers had argued that papers dated 2014 should override a 2010 will that was discovered around the same time in a locked cabinet at the Queen of Soul’s home in suburban Detroit.
The jury deliberated less than an hour after a brief trial that started Monday. After the verdict was read, Aretha Franklin’s grandchildren stepped forward from the first row to hug Kecalf and Edward.
“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to,” Kecalf Franklin said. “We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”
Aretha Franklin was a global star for decades, known especially for hits like “Think,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Respect.” She did not leave behind a formal, typewritten will when she died five years ago at age 76.
But documents, with scribbles and hard-to-decipher passages, emerged in 2019 when a niece scoured the home for records.
In closing arguments, lawyers for Kecalf and Edward Franklin said the fact that the 2014 papers were found in a notebook in couch cushions did not make them less significant.
“You can take your will and leave it on the kitchen counter. It’s still your will,” Charles McKelvie told the jury.
Another lawyer, Craig Smith, pointed to the first line of the document, which was displayed on four large posters in front of the jury.
“Says right here: ‘This is my will.’ She’s speaking from the grave, folks,” Smith said of Franklin.
Kecalf and Edward had teamed up against brother Ted White II, who favored the 2010 will. White’s attorney, Kurt Olson, noted the earlier will was under lock and key. He said it was much more important than papers found in a couch.
“We were here to see what the jury would rule. We’ll live with it,” Olson said after the verdict.
The jury found that the 2014 version was signed by Aretha Franklin, who put a smiley face in the letter ‘A.’
There still will be discussions over whether some provisions of the 2010 will should be fulfilled and whether Kecalf Franklin could become executor of the estate. Judge Jennifer Callaghan told all sides to file briefs and attend a status conference next week.
Franklin’s estate managers have been paying bills, settling millions in tax debts and generating income through music royalties and other intellectual property. The will dispute, however, has been unfinished business.
