“Ooh, your kisses, sweeter than honey. / And guess what? So is my money,†Aretha Franklin sang in her hit “Respect.†Now, 56 years after the song’s release and five years after Franklin’s death at 76, the battle over the Queen of Soul’s sweet estimated $18 million estate is almost settled after going to court. Franklin, who died after an extended struggle with pancreatic cancer, did not have her personal finances in order at the time of her death. Not only did it initially appear that she had failed to leave behind any will or instructions on how to divide her assets but she had almost $1 million in uncashed checks, some so old they had to be reissued. Now, after a two-day trial, a six-person Michigan jury has decided that a 2014 handwritten four-page document found in a spiral notebook under her couch cushions almost a year after Franklin’s death does indeed qualify as her will.
Judge Jennifer Callaghan must now decide whether the 2014 will invalidates, either completely or partially, Franklin’s 11-page 2010 will, which was found in a cabinet in her home after her death and had previously been declared valid. The judge will also decide exactly what Franklin had intended with her often illegible handwriting and crossed-out scrawls.
The discovery of Franklin’s two wills led to an acrimonious split between her four sons. Edward and Kecalf Franklin believed the 2014 document was her true will, but Ted White insisted the more extensive 2010 version was in fact her final complete will. Three of Franklin’s four sons appeared in the courtroom — Kecalf, Edward, and Ted — but did not seem to speak or acknowledge one another as they sat together in a row behind their teams of attorneys. Their fourth brother, Clarence, who has special needs, did not appear after his team announced prior to the trial that he had settled his claims with the estate.
The drama around Franklin’s estate is not unusual for big names in the music business, especially around music-royalty rights. Prince, who died suddenly in 2016 at the age of 57 from an accidental fentanyl overdose, didn’t have a will, and it took more than six years for his siblings to settle his estate. James Brown had one, but even that didn’t stop his heirs and his estate from being mired in litigation for more than 15 years after his death.
“Although a will is something important that nearly everyone should have, regardless of their wealth or celebrity status, having one drawn up involves acknowledging and confronting one’s own mortality, which is a topic that is uncomfortable for many,†said Michael Schimel, an attorney at Pryor Cashman LLP. “That means a lot of people either put it off or perhaps fail to follow through. That can result in either a lack of having a will done in the first place or the failure to make an important change later on. And of course, life gets busy, and preparing or updating an estate plan can fall by the wayside.â€
But the situation in Franklin’s estate was fairly unique — at first, there was no will to be found. Then two separate wills turned up in odd places. The chaos led to handwriting experts being called in to authenticate the documents and determine whether the sometimes illegible crossed-out scrawl had actually been written by Franklin herself and what exactly it said.
Craig Smith, who represents Franklin’s son Edward, 66, said some of the dispute could have been avoided if Franklin had left her intentions in a straightforward fashion, but he added that the COVID pandemic, as well as Franklin’s having to settle with the IRS on past taxes owed, added to the complexity.
“Just a lot of factors,†Smith said.
Since the brothers couldn’t come to an agreement, it was up to a jury to decide whether the handwritten four pages found in a spiral notebook under the couch cushions dated in 2014 or the 11-page document found in a cabinet written in 2010 was Aretha’s true will.
Clarence, 68, Franklin’s oldest son — whom she gave birth to when she was only 12 years old and has a disability that requires special needs — initially insisted that neither handwritten will could be authenticated. According to Michigan law, if Franklin had died without a will, Clarence would have received an equal one-fourth share. But as the trial approached, Clarence’s attorney announced that his client had dropped his claims.
“We have settled on behalf of Clarence Franklin,†his attorney, Joseph Buttiglieri, said. “He will receive a percentage of the estate. We will not participate in the trial and have withdrawn our objections. We expect that the court will enter an order approving our settlement.â€
That left the other three brothers: Edward, whom Aretha had at 14 years old and who has the same father, Edward Jordan, as Clarence; Ted White, 59, the third son, born in 1964 to Franklin and her husband and manager Ted White; and the youngest, Kecalf Cunningham, 53, whose father was Franklin’s tour manager, Ken Cunningham. Edward sided with his younger half-sibling, Kecalf, over the divisions against their brother Ted, as they both believed the 2014 will found under the couch cushions to be the official one.
“It is beyond dispute that Ms. Franklin intended the 2014 will to be her will,†Smith wrote in court papers for his client, Edward Franklin. “Ms. Franklin wrote at the very beginning of the 2014 will stating, ‘To whom it may concern and being of sound mind, I write my will and testimony.’â€
The 2014 will instructs that her music assets, copyrights, songs, and bank-account balances be split evenly between Ted, Edward, and Kecalf. It gives Kecalf his mother’s primary residence, along with all of her home furnishings, automobiles, furs, and jewelry. It also names him the executor of the estate. Franklin gave Edward and Ted two of her other residences and asked that her three sons check on Clarence once a week and give his guardian money as needed. She asked that her papers be given to a college music department or sold in a private sale and that her gold records be distributed evenly among the sons. Aretha never discussed the 2014 will with anyone.
Ted White, also a musician, had insisted the 2010 will was valid because each page had been signed by Franklin and notarized. The Michigan jury ultimately disagreed.