At age 76, music legend Aretha Franklin passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2018.
On July 10, a trial about the Queen of Soul’s estate began. Which of two handwritten wills governs the estate? Her sons argued.
A 2014 will that was discovered in a notebook tucked beneath a couch cushion is legal, a jury ruled on Tuesday.
In some places, including Michigan, where Franklin lived, handwritten or “holographic” wills are legitimate.
Examples of famous people who passed away without leaving a will throughout history include Bob Marley, Prince, Howard Hughes, Pablo Picasso, Jimi Hendrix, and even Abraham Lincoln.
But a longtime legal dispute involving music icon Aretha Franklin’s estate has been the latest high-profile illustration of why it’s important to have a formal estate plan, even for noncelebrities.
The Queen of Soul had two handwritten wills. A Michigan jury said Tuesday that one from 2014 — which was found in a notebook under couch cushions — is a valid will.
“Everybody should have either a will or a trust,” said Richard Behrendt, an estate planner based in Mequon, Wisconsin.
If not, state law will determine what happens to your property, he said. However, it might not go in the direction you had in mind.
Which of Aretha Franklin’s two wills was legitimate was ruled by a jury
A will is a formal document that specifies your intentions regarding your property and assets after you pass away. In other terms, it specifies who and how much of your belongings go to whom. A legal guardian can also be named by parents of minor children.
To make sure your desires are carried out, an executor is also named in your will.
Without a valid will, a person is said to have died “intestate.” Each state has rules that specify how the assets of an estate are distributed in various situations.
There was no official, typewritten will in place for Franklin. She instead recorded her wishes on two handwritten wills, the most recent of which was dated in 2014. Months after the Queen of Soul’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2018, both were found in Franklin’s Detroit home.