Singer Aretha Franklin, aged 76, has passed away

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan governor signs bill designating portion of freeway as Aretha Franklin Memorial Highway

DETROIT - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 4060 which designates the portion of the M-10 freeway between Livernois and I-94 in Detroit as the Aretha Franklin Memorial Highway.

House Bill 4060 was introduced by state representative Leslie Love...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Aretha Franklin’s cancer doctors recall her grace, grit

Detroit – Regardless of her reputation as a performer, Aretha Franklin’s cancer doctors say she was no diva as a patient.

As the anniversary of her death approaches, two of her doctors tell the Associated Press that the Queen of Soul handled the diagnosis and treatment with grace – and the grit to keep performing for years with a rare type of cancer.

“As a person, she was extremely kind, she was respectful, she was funny – she treated people like me and my team members as her friends,” said Dr. Manisha Shah of Ohio State University. “There is no phone call that would end without her asking about us. Most of the time she would ask about us first. … It’s because who she was: She was really down-to-earth.”...

 

[arielilane]

5 years after her death, Aretha Franklin's multiple wills still in dispute

The unusual court case over Aretha Franklin's wills is likely to come down to her intent: How did she actually intend to divide up her estate.

www.11alive.com

Updated: 8:47 AM EDT July 6, 2023

PONTIAC, Mich. — Five years after her death, the final wishes of music superstar Aretha Franklin are still unsettled. An unusual trial begins next Monday to determine which of two handwritten wills, including one found in couch cushions, will guide how her estate is handled.

The Queen of Soul, who had four sons, did not have a formal, typewritten will in place, despite years of health problems and efforts to get one done. But under Michigan law, it's still possible to treat other documents — with scribbles, scratch-outs and hard-to-read passages — as her commands.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Aretha Franklin’s sons are going to court over her estate. Here’s what to know.

The soul superstar died nearly five years ago, but her last wishes remain the subject of a knotty legal fight.

www.nbcnews.com

Aretha Franklin, the electrifying “Queen of Soul,” died in August 2018, closing the curtains on one of the most illustrious careers in American popular music. But in at least one crucial respect, her story is not over.

Five years after Franklin’s death at her home in suburban Detroit, her last wishes remain an open question and the subject of intense debate. The battle over the singer’s estate is now going to trial in probate court, with proceedings set to kick off Monday.

The singer did not leave behind formal, typewritten instructions for her money and property. Eight months after her death, however, handwritten wills were found hidden in her home — including one inside a spiral notebook crammed under sofa cushions...

 

[JerseyGirl]

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

Five years after the Queen of Soul died without a known will, her heirs are in court over her estate.

www.bbc.com

 

[arielilane]

Jury seated in trial over Aretha Franklin's handwritten wills

Aretha Franklin died in 2018 at age 76. But five years later, the music superstar's estate remains unsettled.

www.courttv.com

7.10.2023

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge narrowed the issues Monday in a dispute over Aretha Franklin’s estate, saying the only task for jurors is to decide whether a 2014 document handwritten by the Queen of Soul and found in couch cushions can be accepted as a valid will.

The stipulation was made by attorneys for Franklin’s sons before a jury was seated in Oakland County Probate Court.

 

[arielilane]

Jury decides Aretha Franklin will found in her couch is a valid document

A document handwritten by singer Aretha Franklin and found in her couch after her 2018 death is a valid Michigan will, a jury said Tuesday.

abc13.com

7/11/2023

PONTIAC, Mich. -- A document handwritten by singer Aretha Franklin and found in her couch after her 2018 death is a valid Michigan will, a jury said Tuesday, a critical turn in a dispute that has turned her sons against each other.

It's a victory for Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin whose lawyers had argued that papers dated 2014 should override a 2010 will that was discovered around the same time in a locked cabinet at the Queen of Soul's home in suburban Detroit.

 

[Chimera]

Not going to be as much $ , after the lawyers are through, though ?

Rest in peace, Aretha.
Gorgeous voice !

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2023/07/11/jury-finds-aretha-franklins-2014-will-to-be-legitimate/70401437007/

Pontiac — Aretha Franklin's estate will be divided up between her four sons based mostly on the 2014 will that was found under a couch cushion after the Queen of Soul's 2018 death, an Oakland County jury decided Tuesday.

But the battle of the wills is not yet over: Oakland County Judge Jennifer Callaghan will have to decide if the 2014 will fully revokes the 2010 will or if there are parts of the 2010 will that will remain in effect.

The jury had to determine if the 2014 document was signed by Franklin and if her intent in drafting it was to make it her will. The six-person jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning with a verdict...