Posted on 07/11/2023 3:14:29 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A Michigan jury has decided that a document handwritten by Aretha Franklin, which was found underneath some couch cushions following her death, is her valid will, as The New York Times reports. The will was discovered in 2019, a year after Franklin’s death from pancreatic cancer, and has been the subject of a dispute between Franklin’s sons, the inheritors of her estate.
The document is dated to 2014, four years after a more detailed will that was drawn up in 2010. Neither was prepared by a lawyer, though the earlier one was notarized. Despite the more informal nature of the later will, a jury decided that the handwritten will was her valid last will and testament after a two-day trial in probate court that took place in Pontiac, Michigan. The 2010 will was found at the same time as the 2014 one, in a locked cabinet in Franklin’s home.
The differences between the two wills are potentially drastic considering the size of Franklin’s estate, which was estimated to be worth $18 million at the time of her death and also includes ongoing revenue from music royalties and licensing. The earlier will laid out weekly and monthly allowances owed to each of Franklin’s four children, and stipulated that two of them “must take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” to inherit from the estate.
The later, now validated one states that three of Franklin’s sons — excluding Clarence Franklin, who court papers indicated was under a guardianship and lives in an assisted living facility — would split her royalties equally, though one sibling, Kecalf Franklin, would inherit a larger portion of Aretha Franklin’s personal probably, including a home in Bloomfield Hills and her personal vehicles.
“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to,” Kecalf Franklin said, per Associated Press. “We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”
“ But when someone dies, the bank seals the box. ”
Right you are, however a copy of the will is usually kept by the attorney that drew it up!
Having experienced that scenario personally, I can assure you that’s correct.
And it’s astounding.
What’s stopping you, me, or the next door neighbor from successfully producing a “will” drawn up by Warren Buffett on a napkin, leaving us everything?
Based on my personal experience (although I walked away), apparently nothing.
Aretha Franklin, meet Nina Wong.
FTA: Kecalf Franklin, would inherit a larger portion of Aretha Franklin’s personal probably .... ::
~~~~~~
Proofreading is apparently extinct.
is it? it wasn’t noterized the first one was. i think someone is getting screwed.
As the old song goes . . .
"Take up your glass and a bright bumper fill,
To the jolly testator who writes his own will!"
If you've got any property of any value at all, it's important to consult a lawyer to have your will made! I'm a lawyer, but I don't do wills - was a courthouse rat for my entire working life - that is to say, a litigator, that is, I cleaned up other folks' mistakes. So when I made my will, I went to a law school classmate's firm and his younger brother took care of it. It's "right and tight" - the lawyer has a copy, and I have the original at home in my safe, and my executor has a copy as well (and the combination to my safe).
Oddly enough, I sat on a jury in a will contest back in 2010 or thereabouts. Undue influence - we broke the will. It was an interesting experience because for litigators, a jury is a "black box" - the evidence and charges go in at one end, and a verdict comes out at the other, and you really have no idea what went on. So it was very educational! My husband, on the other hand, was practically a professional juror - I guess he sat on a dozen juries over the years, in 3 different counties. So I did have a lot of information on How Juries Think. It did help.
Were 400 2020 ballots all marked stright ticket Democrat also found in the sofa? It’s hard to shake a sofa or open a car trunk post-election without some popping out.
There IS some law regarding the admissibility of witness statements that are deemed a "dying declaration", in spite of the hearsay rule, but that's a different issue.
The reason I said that in my comment is that some state laws are written to permit handwritten wills (holographic wills) so that people facing imminent death have a quick option in case they can’t get to a lawyer, witness, or typewriter.
Prince didn’t have a will either. It is astonishing to me. Several of his heirs have sold their rights.
I read where Michael Jackson’s kids wanted to sell the rights but they aren’t all agreeing to do it. No idea if true.
“Proofreading is apparently extinct.”
It’s as dead as the dodo bird. Today I read an article, in the NY Post, that mentioned some miscreants “wrap sheet”.
The notarized version is a real will that is simply superseded by the latest will. The non-notarized version is also a real will and it is the last will i.e. the one that is honored.
Wills do not have to be notarized and do not have to be submitted to anyone. In most places they do have to witnessed or they “can” be legally deemed invalid, I’ve read. This latest one must’ve been witnessed or they let the witness requirement slide, as Michigan requires two witnesses.
Witnesses aren’t required, in Michigan, for a holographic will. The will must be dated, largely in the decedent’s hand writing and clearly reveal that it was i tended as a will.
Lol, you’re right, I looked up holographic wills here:
https://www.annarborprobate.com/estate-planning/2022/12/02/is-a-holographic-will-valid-in-michigan/
I was mistaken to use this website, that says wills must have two witnesses and doesn’t mention holographic wills.
https://michiganlegalhelp.org/resources/wills-and-life-planning/making-will
Seriously? I’m the first to say; “Kecalf”?
Sad.
I hope everyone understands this is catnip for lawyers. Probate court is the biggest scam going. THE LAWYERS GET THE MONEY. It doesnt take 5 years to settle this. Both sides were working it. They took that estate for everything they could get.
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