Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
A will found in a couch at Aretha Franklin's home has been ruled valid by a Michigan jury, Associated Press reports. Franklin's will, which was discovered by her niece Sabrina Owens inside a notebook in 2019, has been used to settle a dispute between Franklin’s sons Ted White II and Kecalf and Edward Franklin over the late singer's estate.
Franklin did not leave a formal will prior to her death in 2018 with any document authored by the singer interpreted as binding in Michigan state law. Owens discovered two such handwritten wills, one dated 2010 and another 2014. Each document named a different son as executor of her estate. The 2010 will named Ted White II as the executor while the 2014 note had Kecalf Franklin as his replacement.
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As the most recently written note, the 2014 will is now seen as Franklin's final will and testament. Kecalf and his brother Edward now inherit their late mother's home in Michigan.
In a statement, Kecalf said: "I'm very, very happy. I just wanted my mother's wishes to be adhered to. We just want to exhale right now. It's been a long five years for my family, my children."
The dispute is not entirely settled, however, with Oakland County Probate Judge Jennifer Callaghan instructing both parties to attend a conference next week to determine whether some stipulations from the 2010 will may still be applied.
In 2022 an FBI file involving Franklin, specifically her civil rights activity in the ’60s and ’70s, was declassified following a Freedom of Information Act.
