Posted on 09/02/2018 4:24:47 PM PDT by NRx
Aretha Franklin, who died last month at the age of 76, did not leave a will. Her four sons and other family members are thus left to find out how much the Queen of Soul was worth, and to divide it up. The process could take years and is likely to play out in public.
Estate law experts expressed surprise but not shock that a wealthy person like Franklin would put off a will until it was too late. One of the singer’s attorneys said he urged her repeatedly to draft one.
“I tried to convince her that she should do not just a will but a trust while she was still alive,” says Don Wilson, a Los Angeles lawyer who worked for Franklin for nearly 30 years. “She never told me, ‘No, I don’t want to do one.’ She understood the need. It just didn’t seem to be something she got around to.”
Papers filed in Michigan’s Oakland county court last week by David J Bennett, the lawyer who worked most closely with Franklin, lay out the few known basics. She was not married and left four sons, aged 48 to 63: Clarence Franklin, Edward Franklin, Kecalf Franklin and Ted White Jr. Clarence, Aretha’s eldest, is incapacitated and represented by a guardian.
A niece has accepted the role of executor. Under Michigan law, as in most states, the sons will equally divide their mother’s assets in the absence of a will. So far no sign of conflict has emerged.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
The state does NOT take a chunk....and not all “no will” cases go through probate.
Incompetent?
Could be.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not hoping for drama and trauma, just noting that such usually happens when the rich and/or famous die and leave family behind.
And it could be that she was a true boomer and decided “hey, I got mine, screw all you!” like so many have taken to doing in their endless self worship.
To add to that Blues Brothers quote from her role as the waitress, she said: “out that door without your dry white toast,without your four fried chickens,and without Matt Guitar Murphy-———
and without my will.”
Doesn’t matter how many shadow relatives show up. Under Michigan law, her estate is split evenly among her children...only her children.
Of course, there will be scads of kids saying “But Gramma would want to pay for my college!” and working on the brothers like that. I hope they get a good, honest (LOL!) estate attorney.
yikes...
She was 13 when she had her first kid..?
Everyone has a will. She just had the one size fits all provided by the State. Probably exactly what most everyone puts in their written will only $75 cheaper.
https://info.legalzoom.com/death-michigan-24093.html
It looks like the state will not take a chunk ( some states do)
Yes it does go through probate and that will have an administrative fee
Don’t die intestate
lol
Does not having a will mean she didn’t have everything in a trust?
Not really. Most give estate to the exact statutory distribution. I understand the exceptions but 70% don’t need a will and they really don’t need a “dying Trust”. Most dont need “death insurance” .
No wonder Sharpton, Jesses, Louie, and Bubba showed up....for the broads and the money.
N9 legal basis
Not named in will ... no legal standing
If you don’t trust the State (county, state, fed) or the legal system (all crooks), the best thing you can do for your family is get the TRUST and WILL done.
Wife and I had ours done a few years ago, if I croak first she gets everything, including my retirement for the rest of her life (ha ha, take that PERS, ESAD).
Same applies to me if she goes first, including her STRS.
When were both gone it gets split up evenly between the kids.
Oldest boy is the executor.
Whole thing (about 500 pages) cost about 3200 to 5000, depending on how complicated it is.
Lot of out of state stuff, (mine was real complicated).
Hell, make your own.
Just a pine board box, 3’W x 6’L x 2’D.
Save the family that 10 or 15 grand for the coffin, your gonna be dead, what do you care.
GOD don’t care what you get buried in, just that you believe and you tried hard.
“GOD don’t care what you get buried in, just that you believe and you tried hard.”
Amen, Brother!
“Don’t die intestate”
Or on the Interstate, either!
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