A jury decided Tuesday that a handwritten will found under Aretha Franklin’s couch cushions is valid and trumps an earlier version found locked in a cabinet.
The decision comes amid a bitter legal battle over the legendary singer’s estate. Her son Ted White II insisted that a notarized version of Franklin’s will from 2010 should override the 2014 version discovered in her couch because it was created in a more traditional way.
“With all the time I spent working with her administratively … every other document that she ever signed was something that was done conventionally and legally,” White told the jury via his lawyer, per Fox News.
Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Owens, found the documents in her suburban Detroit home after Franklin died in 2018 without a formal will.
“She would use the kitchen and living room — that was about it,” Owens said in a written testimony that was read during the trial. “So, when I got to the sofa, I lifted up that far right cushion and there was three notebooks there.”
A representative for Franklin’s sons, Kecalf and Edward Franklin, argued that the newer version of the will was valid during closing arguments. “You can take your will and leave it on the kitchen counter. It’s still your will,” he said.
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The most recent will stipulates that Kecalf and Franklin’s grandchildren were entitled to her home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Meanwhile, the 2010 version says her sons would need to get a certificate or degree in business before becoming entitled to her estate. The 2014 version does include that stipulation, according to the AP.
The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the verdict.
“I’m very, very happy,” Kecalf said after the verdict came out. “I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to. We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”
White’s attorney said, “We were here to see what the jury would rule. We’ll live with it.”
The outlet noted that the last public accounting showed Franklin’s estate had an income of $3.9 million during the previous 12-month period and a similar amount of spending, including more than $900,000 in legal fees to various firms.