Aretha Franklin’s disputed 2014 handwritten will that awarded real estate to her sons will stand, a judge overseeing the estate has determined this week.
The decision comes four months after a Detroit-area jury decided the document was a is lawful under Michigan law, despite scribbles and many hard-to-read passages. Franklin had signed it and put a smiley face in the letter “A.”
The handwritten will that was found between couch cushions has been ruled legitimate and will override a handwritten will from 2010 which was found at Franklin’s suburban Detroit home around the same time in 2019, the judge said. Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in 2018.
Her son, Kecalf Franklin, has been awarded property, which was valued at $1.1 million in 2018, but is now worth more. It was described as the “crown jewel” by one lawyer before the trial in July.
Another son, Ted White II, who had favored the 2010 will, was given a house in Detroit, though it was sold by the estate for $300,000 before the dueling wills had emerged.
“Teddy is requesting the sale proceeds,” Charles McKelvie, an attorney for Kecalf Franklin said.
A third son, Edward Franklin, was awarded another property under the 2014 will.
The discovery of the two handwritten conflicting wills months after her death led to a dispute between the sons over what their mother wanted to do with her real estate and other assets.
One of the properties, worth more than $1 million, will likely be sold and the proceeds shared by four sons. The judge said the 2014 will didn’t clearly state who should get it.
“This was a significant step forward. We’ve narrowed the remaining issues,” McKelvie said of the estate saga.
A dispute remains over how to handle Aretha Franklin’s music assets, though the will appears to indicate that the sons would share any income. A status conference with the judge is set for January.