Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, had a few surprises left for her family, friends and fans, even after her death.
The beloved singer, who died in August from pancreatic cancer, was thought to have died with no wills. But three handwritten wills have just been submitted to Oakland County probate court, and were allegedly found in her Detroit home. Two of the wills are dated from 2010, and one from 2014. The latter was said to have been found in a notebook under her living room couch cushions, the Associated Press reported.
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Some of the handwriting is illegible, or scratched out. The estate’s value is estimated at tens of millions of dollars (last year it was reported at $80 million). Without a will, the estate would be divided equally among her four sons.
A hearing for the newly-found wills is held for June 12, when their status will be determined. Typically, Michigan state accepts handwritten wills, which are also known as holographic wills. David Bennet, an attorney for Franklin’s estate, said they had been shared with her sons, two of whom have objected to the wills, according to the AP.
Franklin, who was 76 when she passed, is not the first celebrity to have died intestate, or without a will. Prince and Jimi Hendrix did not have wills. Prince’s estate had become the center of chaos when people started claiming family ties to the late performer. It is unclear whether Stan Lee, co-creator of Marvel Comics, had a will when he died in November.
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The opposite situation is when someone lists too much information and the terms become murky, such as was the case with actor John Mahoney, who played the father in ‘90s sitcom “Frasier,” when he listed 38 beneficiaries.
Most people incorrectly assume they don’t need a will if they don’t have hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, but that’s a mistake. Wills not only determine how money is split among those left behind, but also how children are cared for and who gets what intangible items, whether they be valuable in price or sentiment. Discussing wills and testaments isn’t exactly fun — who wants to talk about one’s death, after all — but they’re imperative. They give peace of mind for the person creating them, and also for the family members and friends who may end up in court battling each other.
“It’s not just a distribution of a large sum of money,” said Meg Muldoon, assistant vice president at the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. “It is also your assets you pass to the people in the manner you want them to pass, whether held in a trust because of minor children or children with special needs, or a second marriage.”
Wills can be created in a few manners: handwritten, although not all states accept those types; with an attorney, which is often recommended; or online with a template from websites like LegalZoom and RocketLawyer or an app like Tomorrow. Cost ranges from free for online templates to about $1,000 when using software or a professional.
Creating a will by hand, as Franklin allegedly did, isn’t always the best answer, especially because language is crucial when drafting these documents, Muldoon said. “You can inadvertently disinherit someone,” she said. For example, if a parent with two adult children writes a will saying they both split assets, and then one adult child dies, leaving behind their own children, those grandchildren would not be automatically privy to their parent’s half of the will owner’s inheritance, she said. When drafting a will, especially by yourself or while reviewing an attorney’s mock up, consider what exactly you want your estate to do and how your belongings should be distributed — then expressly say so.
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