Battle over Aretha’s will begins: Jury seated in trial to decide if handwritten documents accepted

The family of legendary musician Aretha Franklin were in a Michigan court Monday as a trial began to determine whether notes stuffed into a bank will be considered her will.

The Memphis-born Queen of Soul passed away in August 2018 at the age of 76.

She left no formal, typed will, and her family has been divided since her death over which of two possible wills was correct.

Franklin had four sons: Clarence, born when she was only 12; Edward, born of the same father as Clarence when she was 15; Ted, born to Franklin and her husband Theodore “Ted” White in February 1964; and Kecalf Cunningham, born April 1970 whose father was her road manager, Ken Cunningham.

In 2010, Franklin signed a document making her son Ted, 60, the executor of her estate.

But in 2019, a handwritten version from 2014 appeared after it was found on a couch, crossing out Ted’s name and inserting Kecalf’s name as executor. The doctor would allow Kecalf to inherit her home in Bloomfield Hills, an affluent suburb north of Detroit.

Kecalf Franklin, 53 (left), and his brother Ted White, 60 (right), argue over their mother’s will

Ted and Kecalf are now in court to determine who is the executor, with a process expected to take two days.

At stake is control of a fortune that, considering she started performing at age 12 and signed to Columbia Records at age 18, remains remarkably low.

The latest public accounting filed in March showed the estate had an income of $3.9 million during the previous 12-month period and a similar amount of expenses, including more than $900,000 in legal fees for several companies.

Total assets were pegged at $4.1 million, mostly cash and real estate.

Franklin’s creative works and intellectual property were undervalued, with only a $1 nominal fee.

Ted, who played guitar during his mother’s performances, told the court Monday he believes the 2010 document is the only legitimate one.

“With all the time I spent administratively with her, every other document she ever signed was something that was done conventionally and legally,” he told the jury.

Aretha Franklin attends the 1978 Hollywood Christmas Parade with her second husband Glynn Turman, her son Kecalf Cunningham, her stepson, and her stepdaughter Stephanie Turman

Aretha Franklin is seen in March 2014 with, from left, Clifton Davis, Clive Davis and her son Kecalf Franklin

Franklin is seen with her boyfriend William Wilkerson (left) and her son Edward Franklin (right) in 2014

However, he acknowledged that the 2010 will, found at the same time in 2019, was also written by his mother.

There are discrepancies between the documents, but both the 2010 and 2014 documents seem to indicate that Franklin’s four sons would share the music and copyright revenue.

Four large posters with pages from the 2014 document were presented to the jury.

According to that version, Kecalf Franklin and her grandchildren would get his mother’s main home in Bloomfield Hills.

Kecalf Franklin, 53, told the court he doesn’t think it’s unusual for important papers like a will to be discovered in the living room.

Aretha Franklin’s sons Kecalf Franklin, rear, hug Edward Franklin after a ceremony honoring their mother in October 2021

Edward Franklin arrives for the hearing on Monday

Kecalf Franklin talks outside the courtroom with attorney Charles McKelvie on Monday

Asked by his attorney where his mother read mail, made important calls, signed documents, and even slept, Kecalf Franklin said repeatedly, “On the couch.”

A niece, Sabrina Owens, who managed the estate immediately after Franklin’s death, did not appear in court on Monday, but her testimony from a formal interview was read.

She explained how she was determined to search the Bloomfield Hills home for critical documents.

“She would use the kitchen and living room — that was about it,” Owens said.

“So when I got to the couch, I lifted up that far right cushion and there were three notebooks.”

The jury will hear closing arguments on Tuesday.