Aretha Franklin on stage Photo: AP
From BZ/dpa
In the dispute over the estate of soul icon Aretha Franklin, who died in 2018, a document has been recognized by a US court as a will, according to media reports.
A paper dated 2014, discovered by Franklin’s niece under a sofa cushion after her death, reflects her will, the jury decided, according to consistent media reports on Tuesday (local time). In the process, three of her sons had argued about two separate wills.
The jury’s decision is a victory for brothers Kecalf and Edward Franklin. Their lawyers had argued the 2014 papers overturned a 2010 will found around the same time in a locked cupboard at the soul icon’s mansion. Her third son argued that the documents found in the closet should be valid. “We just want to take a deep breath now,” Kecalf Franklin was quoted as saying by the New York Times after the verdict.
According to US media, the process was about the distribution of Franklin’s estate, including her fortune, jewelry and music rights. Franklin’s eldest son is under legal guardianship and was therefore not involved in the case.
With tracks like “Respect” and “Chain of Fools,” Franklin became one of the most successful soul singers of her generation. She died of pancreatic cancer in August 2018 at the age of 76.
The singer, born in 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, received 18 Grammys for her soul singing, which was influenced by gospel and jazz. More than 100 of their songs made it into the charts.