War of the wills: Aretha Franklin’s conflicting wills frustrate her heirs

The prominent attorney Reginald Turner, president-elect of the American Bar Association, explained to reporters earlier this month that he owed it to his longtime friend, the late Aretha Franklin, to step in as temporary caretaker of her estate.

Respectfully, this entire situation could have been avoided if Ms. Franklin's professional associates had helped her with her estate planning while she was alive.

However, as multiple conflicting wills were pulled from the Queen of Soul's sofa cushions and other places in her home after her death in August 2018, it became clear that they had failed her in this regard. And now, the family has quite a mess on its hands.

Turner was appointed by the court after Sabrina Owens, Franklin's niece, resigned as executor due to pressure from disagreeing family members, mostly Franklin's four sons. Son Kecalf Franklin's attorneys accused her of mismanaging assets, which she denied.

Also murky is just how much any of them stand to inherit once the estate pays Franklin's $8 million debt to the IRS, as well as whatever other creditors will crawl out their respective holes. The estate reported assets of $17 million at the end of August, nearly one-half of which appears destined for the IRS.

Another son, Clarence Franklin, suggested that suburban Detroit attorney Andrew Mayoras serve as temporary executor. He's the co-author of a 2012 book, "Trial & Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights!" The judge declined, ruling instead for Turner, who does not specialize in estate law but appears capable of weathering the second-guessing and barbs sure to accompany his new role. When you have family members fighting, courts just want someone they trust to not play favorites who will not get caught up in the emotional whirlwinds that are estate disputes, so the estate can be administered efficiently and fairly, even if only on an interim basis, as here.

As managing partner of a law firm focused on litigating estate disputes, it saddens me to think about how many decades Franklin lived as a huge celebrity, an icon, yet without a solid estate plan vetted by her legal advisors. This whole mess was completely avoidable.

Instead, now the courts are left to sort through odd, handwritten wills that leave it unclear as to how she planned to divvy out her assets. The situation is tantamount to the divorce that you try to negotiate outside court so that a stranger on the bench doesn't decide what is in your and your family's best interests - only in this scenario, you don't even get to object to any of the judge's rulings because you're deceased. Note that the conflicting and murky aspect of the wills opens the door to potential rulings that fail to honor any of what Franklin ordained in any particular will, or in all of them.

Why Franklin chose to write her own will is unknown, but if one of the handwritten wills is accepted by the court, future litigation surrounding it, its interpretation, and who ultimately takes charge of the estate is likely to ensue. All we know now is that Judge Jennifer Callaghan has scheduled hearings for September concerning the 2014 will.

Ironically, if Franklin had died at 76 with no will at all, things would not be as messy. A judge would have followed Michigan law and awarded each of her four sons a quarter of the estate, leaving them to decide the details among themselves. Granted, there would still be a dispute about who controls the estate and its administration.

According to Vulture, the family instead recovered two barely legible wills dated from 2010 from a cabinet, and another from 2014 in a spiral notebook under a couch cushion.

The 2014 will names her third son, Teddy, as the executor of her estate, but then his name is crossed out, leaving "Kecalf (another son) + _______??" on the page with a note reading, "Fill in" written next to it. At the end of this will, Franklin drew a smiley face next to her last name.

According to The New York Times, two of the sons, Kecalf and Edward, want to abide by the 2014 will while Teddy and Clarence don't. Eldest son Clarence, (whom Aretha had when she was 12), is the only son not to receive one of her three houses in the will. We don't know why (it may be because he has special needs and lives in a group home), but the move leaves him as the only son not in line to inherit one of Franklin's houses or proceeds from their sale.

The 2010 will says Kecalf and Edward must take classes in business administration and earn a degree or certificate before they inherit "aforementioned things" in the will.

The situation leaves us to wonder whether to attribute the messiness of the wills to Franklin's expressed displeasure with various accountants and attorneys whom she felt had failed her over the years, or to the family strife now playing out in a Michigan courtroom. What is clear is that someone in the Queen's circle should have ensured she had her affairs tidied up long before she passed. Perhaps not all of the sons would have loved the outcome, but her intent would have been clear, the lesser of two evils. The death of one's mother is painful enough without suffering a second time through a family feud that has no one smiling. 