Will Found in Aretha Franklin’s Couch Is Valid, Jury Rules

A handwritten document found in Aretha Franklin’s couch following her 2018 death counts as a valid will, a Michigan jury ruled (via the Associated Press). The decision ends a years-long debate between the iconic singer’s sons, who disagreed over how Franklin’s assets should be divided.

According to the AP, the jury deliberated for under an hour before deciding that the document — written by Franklin in 2014 and featuring crossed out, sometimes illegible passages — was legally valid, despite not being notarized or signed in the presence of witnesses.

The ruling also lays to rest a debate over which will found in Franklin’s home — there were multiple — would divide her estate. While the 2014 document was found under couch cushions, another, dated from 2010, was found in a locked cabinet. Two of Franklin’s sons, Kecalf 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 more significance.

The 2010 and 2014 versions of Franklin’s will both indicate that Franklin’s four sons would share income from music royalties and copyrights, but the latter — now official — document gives Franklin’s Bloomfield Hills home to Kecalf Franklin and her grandchildren, and omits a previous passage requiring Kecalf and Edward to “take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” in order to inherit their mother’s assets.

“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to,” Kecalf Franklin said after the ruling. “We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”

Jennifer Hudson portrayed Franklin in the 2021 biopic Respect. The following year, the late singer’s 15-year-old granddaughter tried to launch a music career of her own by auditioning for American Idol, but she didn’t move onto the next round of the competition.