In 2014, Aretha Franklin left a handwritten will in her couch; a jury upheld it in 2023, and a judge awarded her $1.1M Michigan home to son Kecalf

A handwritten note found in a couch notebook was ruled Aretha Franklin’s valid will, shifting ownership of her Michigan home and a family’s future.

It took a Michigan jury less than an hour to rule that a handwritten document found in Aretha Franklin’s couch was her valid will. The July 2023 verdict in Pontiac, Michigan, marked a major turn in a dispute that had divided the Queen of Soul’s sons over their mother’s estate, according to The Associated Press.

FILE - Aretha Franklin died in 2018 without a formal typewritten will. In 2023, a jury chose a handwritten document dated 2014 over an earlier version, siding with sons Kecalf and Edward. The documents differed on executors and conditions for inheritance, while both provided for the sons to share music-related income. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Franklin, the global star behind “Think,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Respect,” died in 2018 at age 76 without a formal, typewritten will. That year, a niece searching Franklin’s suburban Detroit home for records discovered two handwritten documents with scribbles and difficult-to-decipher passages. One, dated 2010, was kept in a locked cabinet. The other, dated 2014, was tucked inside a notebook among the couch cushions, the AP reported.

Why the couch note mattered

At trial, lawyers for sons Kecalf and Edward Franklin argued that the 2014 document should take precedence over the 2010 version, regardless of where it was found. Attorney Charles McKelvie told jurors that a will left on a kitchen counter could still be legally valid. Another lawyer, Craig Smith, pointed to the document’s opening line, displayed on four large posters in the courtroom: “This is my will.”

Deep Dive

Can a handwritten will be valid in Michigan?

Why did Aretha Franklin’s 2014 handwritten will take precedence over her 2010 will?

Did the jury’s decision settle how all of Aretha Franklin’s properties would be divided?

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Their brother, Ted White II, supported the 2010 version. His attorney, Kurt Olson, argued that a document kept under lock and key carried more weight than papers left on a couch. White, who had played guitar with his mother, testified that she generally handled important paperwork through conventional arrangements involving a lawyer. The jury ultimately sided with the 2014 document, finding that Franklin had signed it. The AP article said that the handwritten version included a smiley face inside the letter “A.”

The proceedings also revealed tensions within the family. Smith alleged that White wanted to disinherit his two brothers, although the dispute centered on which handwritten will should govern the estate, not on a complete exclusion of the other sons from all inheritance. Kecalf sat near White during the trial, but the two reportedly did not speak. Outside the courtroom, Kecalf said he loved his brother. After the verdict, he expressed relief that the family could move forward with Franklin’s wishes recognized.

A Michigan jury ruled in under an hour that a handwritten 2014 document found in Aretha Franklin’s couch was her valid will. The decision favored sons Kecalf and Edward over Ted White, who backed an earlier version, and helped resolve a dispute over the singer’s estate. (Wikimedia Commons)

Will's content and what happened afterward

A pretrial AP report explained why the handwritten document could carry legal weight despite its informal appearance. Under Michigan law, a handwritten will can be valid if it meets the applicable requirements. Pat Simasko, a professor of elder law at Michigan State University College of Law, explained that a handwritten document can qualify when it is written, dated, and signed by the person making the will. Simasko described the family dispute as a war.

The two documents differed in several important ways. The 2010 version named White and Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Owens, as co-executors. In the 2014 version, White’s name was crossed out, and Kecalf’s was written in its place. The older document also required Kecalf and Edward to take business classes and obtain a certificate or degree to benefit from the estate, a condition absent from the later version. Both documents appeared to provide for the four sons to share income from Franklin’s music and copyrights.

The jury’s decision did not settle every issue involving the estate. In November 2023, more than four months after the verdict, a Michigan judge awarded Franklin’s principal residence in Bloomfield Hills to Kecalf and his children. The property was valued at $1.1 million when Franklin died in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times. That figure reflects its value at the time of her death, not a verified current market valuation.

White was allocated a Detroit property that had been sold for $300,000, entitling him to the proceeds, while Edward received another parcel of land. A fourth property, which was not mentioned in the will, was to be sold, with the proceeds divided among all four sons, including Clarence, who was not involved in the legal dispute.

Franklin’s estate illustrates how competing documents and unclear arrangements can lead to years of litigation among relatives. Keeping an updated, properly executed will and making sure the relevant people know where to find it can help families avoid disputes over a loved one’s final wishes.