Celebrity Estate Lessons – Aretha Franklin

The Queen of Soul was many things, but Aretha Franklin was not a lawyer. When Aretha Franklin died in 2017 her heirs originally could not find any estate plan. Then, while going through her house in 2019, they found three handwritten Wills, including one shoved in a notebook in her couch cushions. (Pro tip: not the best place to keep your Will).

So, then they had her final wishes and everything was fine.

Just kidding. The handwriting first has to be authenticated as Aretha's. Once that happens, the Probate judge will have to go through the three documents trying to figure out the singer's final wishes, a task made more difficult by the fact that a lot of the handwriting is indecipherable. THEN the fourth Will showed up. Why it took the law firm she'd been working with so long to speak up no one knows, but this past March they offered up an unsigned Will from 2018. She had been working with them for months until she was unable to continue due to her illness, hence the reason it was unsigned.

The judge has set a trial to determine the Will's validity but it has been delayed due to COVID.

So the best takeaway is that while handwritten Wills can be admissible if properly executed, it doesn't hurt to have a professional write them. It also never hurts to talk to your family and friends (as applicable) about your final wishes and where you keep your Wills and other important documents. Oh, and also store them somewhere safer than your couch.

UPDATE: On July 11, 2023, it was reported that a jury in Michigan found that the couch Will is, in fact, her correct Will. The estate can now proceed with the process of dividing her estate. This Will splits her estate among three of her four sons. Her fourth sons, Clarence has a mental illness and the other kids have pledged to take care of him.