Aretha Franklin's sons head to trial over her million-dollar estate

When Aretha Franklin died from pancreatic cancer in August 2018, it was believed that she had left behind no will to an estate worth millions.

But nine months later, three handwritten wills were found at her Detroit, Michigan home - including one wedged between the living room sofa cushions.

This April, never-heard-before voice mails from before the Queen of Soul's death about a potential fourth will heightened the intrigue.

A jury trial that begins Monday seeks to end the impasse between her heirs over Franklin's fortune.

The trial at the Oakland County Probate Court is expected to last less than a week.

A six-person jury will hear from witnesses, including the Franklin 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 to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But the "Respect" hitmaker was intensely private about her finances and is said to have resisted preparing a formal will despite years of ill health.

When she passed, at age 76, the absence of a will dictated that her assets - including homes, cars, furs and jewellery - would be equally split among her four sons.

Then, months on from her passing, three versions of a will were uncovered - two inside a locked cabinet, dated June 2010, and one in a spiral notebook under cushions, dated March 2014.

Each version was scribbled by hand and difficult to decipher, with words scratched out and notes in the margins. Such a condition would make them inadmissible in most states, but Michigan law allows for handwritten wills as long as they meet other criteria.

Theodore White II - Franklin's third child, from her brief marriage to her former manager - argues that the notarised 11-page document from 2010 should take precedence.

That version lists him as a co-executor or personal representative to the estate, along with Ms Owens, the niece. It also calls for Kecalf and Edward Franklin, the singer's second and fourth sons, to "take business classes and get a certificate or a degree" if they wish to benefit from the estate.

Meanwhile, Kecalf and Edward assert that the 2014 version is their mother's primary will.

Kecalf replaces his brother as a co-executor in the four-page document, with no mention of the need for him to take business classes. He and his grandchildren would also inherit his mother's $1.2m (£934,000) gated mansion - a home described by Edward's attorney as "the crown jewel".

Clarence Franklin, the eldest child, is not involved in the dispute. He lives in an assisted living facility in Michigan and is under a legal guardianship.

A lawyer for his guardian told the BBC they will not participate in the trial and "have reached a settlement that gives Clarence a percentage of the estate without regard to the outcome of the will contest".

The family rift had earlier compelled Ms Owens to quit 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, hold no animosity towards them, and wish them the best."

Earlier this year, the court in Pontiac, Michigan heard three voice mail messages, recorded in the months before Franklin died, in which she discusses another will she was preparing with an estate lawyer.

In the messages, Franklin is heard expressing certain "firm intentions" from a Detroit hospital bed, but attorney Henry Grix testified he believed she "hadn't made up her mind" about her final wishes.

The judge has since excluded the document from consideration in the trial.

The Franklin fortune was estimated to be worth $80m (£62m) when the star died in 2018, but more recent valuations and several years of unpaid taxes have vastly reduced that number.

According to an inventory filed in court, and seen by the BBC, the late singer's assets are valued at just under $6m.

Nicholas Papasifakis, who currently serves as Franklin's personal representative, said he is not participating in the trial and is not taking a side in the dispute.

"Once there has been a determination by the Court as to the disposition of Ms Franklin's Estate," he wrote in an email, "I will follow that determination in distributing Ms Franklin's assets."