Jury Deems Handwritten Will Found Under Aretha Franklin's Couch Cushion Valid

Nearly five years after Aretha Franklin's death, the issue of her will was settled by a jury this week. Franklin's final wishes had been a point of contention among her sons due to the existence of two handwritten wills by the late singer discovered in 2019, one an 11-page document found in a cabinet in her Detroit home and written in 2010 and the other found in a spiral notebook under a couch cushion and dated 2014.

The jury's in: A Michigan jury determined on Tuesday that the 2014 will found in the couch is a valid will due to the fact that it was signed by Franklin. Jurors deliberated for almost an hour before deciding that the pages were legally binding and overrode Franklin's 2010 will, both of which featured numerous notes and scribbles.

Two wills? Franklin's sons Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin believed the 2014 document to be their mother's official will, while her son Ted White believed the 2010 will to be the legitimate one. The 2014 will asked for Franklin's music assets, her copyrights, songs and bank account balances to be split evenly between Ted, Edward, and Kecalf, named Kecalf the executor of her estate and gave him her primary residence and home furnishings, automobiles, furs and jewelry.

It also gave Edward and Ted two of her other residences and asked that they and Kecalf check on Franklin's eldest son, Clarence Franklin, who lives under guardianship in an assisted living center, once a week and give his guardian money as needed. Franklin requested her papers be given to a college’s music department or private sale and her gold records to be distributed evenly between her sons. The 2010 will, which was signed by Franklin on each page and notarized, divided her copyrights equally between her children and required Kecalf and Edward to take business administration classes.