A handwritten document found on Aretha Franklin’s couch after her 2018 death is considered a valid will, a Michigan jury has ruled (via The Associated Press). The decision ends a years-long debate among the famous singer’s children, who disagreed about how Franklin’s assets should be divided.
According to the Associated PressAnd The jury deliberated for less than an hour before deciding that the document — written by Franklin in 2014 and containing crossed out, sometimes illegible passages — was legally valid, despite not being notarized or signed in the presence of witnesses.
The ruling also eases the controversy around it any In Franklin’s household – there were several – he would divide her possessions. While the 2014 document was found under the sofa cushions, another document dated from 2010 was found in a locked cabinet. Two of Franklin’s sons, Keckalf and Edward Franklin, argued in favor of the 2014 paper, while brother Ted White II favored the earlier will, arguing that its location under lock and key gave it greater prominence.
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The 2010 and 2014 versions of Franklin would indicate that Franklin’s four sons would share the income from music royalties and copyrights, but the latest document — now official — gives Franklin Bloomfield Hills home to Kecalf Franklin and her descendants, and omits the earlier passage that requires Kecalf and Edward “take business lessons.” They obtain a certificate or degree” in order to inherit their mother’s assets.
“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted to abide by my mother’s wishes,” Keckolf Franklin said after the verdict. “We just want to exhale now. It’s been a long five years for my family and children.”
Jennifer Hudson portrayed Franklin in the 2021 biopic respect. The following year, the late singer’s 15-year-old granddaughter attempted to launch her own music career with an audition american Idol, But she did not move on to the next round of competition.
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