Aretha Franklin died intestate in August 2018
When Aretha Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in August 2018, it was believed that she left no will to an estate worth millions.
But months later, handwritten wills were found in a closet and under a couch cushion in her home in suburban Detroit, Michigan.
A jury will now decide which of the two documents will be considered the valid last testament of the Queen of Soul.
The trial began Monday and is expected to last less than a week.
A six-member jury in Oakland County Probate Court will hear from witnesses, including Franklin’s children, her niece Sabrina Owens and a handwriting expert.
An 18-time Grammy Award winner, Franklin recorded dozens of chart-topping songs and was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But the singer, known for hits such as Think, I Say a Little Prayer and Respect, has been very private about her finances and is said to have resisted preparing a formal will despite years of ill health.
When she died aged 76, the lack of a will meant that her assets – including homes, cars, furs and jewelery – had to be divided equally between her four sons.
But nine months after her death, the wills were discovered in her home.
One son claimed the documents, dated June 2010 and found in a locked cabinet, were the real will.
Two other sons say the March 2014 will, found in a spiral notebook under sofa cushions, should take precedence.
On Monday, Judge Jennifer Callahan told jurors the only decision they had to make was whether the 2014 document could be accepted as a valid will.
Despite their differences in both documents, the sons will share revenue from Franklin’s music and royalties.
Each version was hand-scribbled and difficult to decipher, with scratched words and notes in the margins. Such a condition would make them inadmissible in most states, but Michigan law allows handwritten wills as long as they meet other criteria.
Theodore White II – Franklin’s third child from her brief marriage to her former manager – claims the 11-page notarized document from 2010 is the valid will.
This version lists him as co-executor or personal representative of the estate, along with Mrs. Owens, the niece. He also urged Kecalf and Edward Franklin, the singer’s second and fourth sons, to “take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” if they want to benefit from the estate.
Kecalf and Edward, meanwhile, claim the 2014 version is their mother’s primary will.
Kecalf replaces his brother as co-executor on the four-page document. He and his grandchildren would also inherit his mother’s $1.2m (£934,000) foreclosed estate – a home described by Edward’s lawyer as the “jewel in the crown”.
The newer document also calls for Franklin’s dresses to be auctioned off or given to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Clarence Franklin, the oldest child, did not participate in the argument. He lives in an assisted living facility in Michigan and is under legal guardianship.
A lawyer for his guardian told the BBC that they would not be involved in the trial and “have reached an agreement which gives Clarence a percentage of the estate regardless of the outcome of the will contest”.
A family rift had earlier caused Mrs Owens to step down as representative of her aunt’s estate.
“Given my aunt’s love of family and desire for privacy, this is not what she would have wanted for us, nor is it what I want,” she wrote in a 2020 court filing.
“I love my cousins, I have no animosity towards them and I wish them the best.”
Earlier this year, a court in Pontiac, Michigan, heard three voice messages recorded in the months before Franklin died in which she discussed another will she was preparing with an estate attorney.
Reports said Franklin expressed certain “firm intentions” from her Detroit hospital bed, but attorney Henry Grix testified that he believed she was “undecided” about her final wishes.
The judge excluded this document from consideration at trial.
Franklin’s fortune was estimated at $80 million when the star died in 2018, but more recent appraisals and several years of unpaid taxes have significantly reduced that figure.
According to an inventory filed in court and seen by the BBC, the late singer’s assets are valued at just under $6 million.
Nicholas Papasifakis, who currently serves as Franklin’s personal representative, said he is not involved in the trial and does not take sides in the dispute.
“Once the Court makes a decision regarding the disposition of Ms. Franklin’s estate,” he wrote in an email, “I will follow that decision in distributing Ms. Franklin’s assets.”