Since Aretha Franklin died in August, her family has operated with a simple understanding about her estate: Because she was believed to have had no will, Franklin’s assets and income would be divided equally among her four sons, in accordance with Michigan law. That structure, and the peace it preserved within the family, has been upended by the discovery this month of a series of handwritten wills that could significantly alter the estate, replace the executor and change each son’s inheritance. The scrawled documents — found in a locked cabinet and under the sofa cushions of Franklin’s home in suburban Detroit — were submitted to a probate judge on Monday to determine whether they qualify as valid wills. But the possibility of wholesale changes to the estate has already stirred divisions among Franklin’s sons, with two of them supporting the most recent will, dated in 2014 , and two opposing it, according to lawyers involved in the discussions . At a closed meeting on Wednesday, the lawyers representing the estate and the sons discussed a pending property sale, and were urged by a staff attorney for the court to hire a mediator to help negotiate their disputes and avoid costly litigation.

Source: New York Times May 24, 2019 20:31 UTC