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 ...
This might get interesting.
Spent it all and more ?
And because of this much of the money is now drained by the government, accountants, and attorneys. Sad.
This will be a shitshow. Prince’s people are still fighting over his loot I think. Didn’t this happen with George Jefferson too? (Sherman Helmsley)
Well, how many people die willingly anyway???
old news, reported the day/day after she died
How stupid. But not surprising.
Mom’s dead!??
It will be interesting to see how many long lost “family members”, “friends”, “business associates”, etc., suddenly start showing up to claim a piece of her estate.
The lawyers will feast over this.
So true...
I see relatives going nuclear in the near future.
Her eldest son is 63 and she is dead at 76. Telling what she was doing at an early age.
I was amazed to learn that Abraham Lincoln died without a will.
All Bill Clinton wants is Adriana Grande but Hillary and Chelsey want the dough.
He never married and had no obvious heirs. At least AF had four legitimate sons, who are entitled under Michigan law to inherit.
$80 million and no will. Wish my name was Will...
If she'd left a will that said "Everything I own goes to my four sons, divided equally, and my niece shall act as my Personal Representative," then everything would have played out exactly the same as it will play out now.
That said, a special needs trust might have been a good idea for the one son.
There goes the We Are All About Love facade.
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