3 Handwritten Wills found in Aretha Franklin’s Home

[marv2]

Some good news finally for the Franklin family:

https://thegrio.com/2019/05/21/3-handwritten-wills-found-in-aretha-franklins-home/

[StuBass1]

Aretha [[RIP) one of the greatest and most, iconic singers of all time, maintained some very questionable business practices throughout her life... Numerous disputes with contractors and now this, knowing that she was ill amazes me. She certainly had access to the best attorneys available, but for some reason, conducted much of her business in a very questionable and counterproductive ways... Hastily handwritten, hardly legible last testaments stuffed under sofa cushions are hardly the way, especially for someone with vast assets to disburse and distribute their estate, and is highly unusual to say the least... Hard to figure...

[sansradio]

Well, this makes me feel somewhat better about things. On the other hand, as my sister texted me about it, "Let the games begin."

Have y'all read the excerpts? They're so classic Aretha. "...[M]y primary but grossly inefficient attorney" had me rolling.

[RanRan79]

Well, this makes me feel somewhat better about things. On the other hand, as my sister texted me about it, "Let the games begin."

Have y'all read the excerpts? They're so classic Aretha. "...[M]y primary but grossly inefficient attorney" had me rolling.

Sans I'm not buying it. I'll bet the one found under the cushions will be a fake. Maybe. But the Queen's will debacle should be a major example for everyone to have a need for a will, famous or not. This is ridiculous and the Queen should've known better.

However, those excepts do seem very Arethaish. Lol

[sansradio]

Here they are. I believe they are credible, but how admissible in a court of law we'll soon find out.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6020065-Aretha-Franklin-Handwritten-Will-2.html

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6020949-Aretha-Franklin-Handwritten-Will-1.html

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6020977-Aretha-Franklin-Handwritten-Will-3.html

[marv2]

Here they are. I believe they are credible, but how admissible in a court of law we'll soon find out.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6020065-Aretha-Franklin-Handwritten-Will-2.html

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6020949-Aretha-Franklin-Handwritten-Will-1.html

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6020977-Aretha-Franklin-Handwritten-Will-3.html

In Michigan you are allowed to have a handwritten Will.

[detmotownguy]

In Michigan you are allowed to have a handwritten Will.
Hi Marv! I am thinking that she prob didn’t trust anyone and rightfully so. I like how she demanded cash before she started her performance. Maybe not the safest idea but at least she got her money provided it was not counterfeit.

[sansradio]

In Michigan you are allowed to have a handwritten Will.

Didn’t know that. Do they have to be signed and witnessed?

[marv2]

Didn’t know that. Do they have to be signed and witnessed?

I'm not sure, but since it is in her verifiable handwriting, I think their good.

[marv2]

Hi Marv! I am thinking that she prob didn’t trust anyone and rightfully so. I like how she demanded cash before she started her performance. Maybe not the safest idea but at least she got her money provided it was not counterfeit.

She also did not want to think about death. She is like most people in that regards. She also said that she would never retire.

[arr&bee]

As my one year old granddaughter might say...oh,oh!!!

[kenneth]

In Michigan, as in most states, there are strict rules about what constitutes a valid will. As in this Michigan statute, wills have to be dated and witnessed. However, in the alternative, a handwritten will, commonly known as a "Holographic Will," is also just as valid.

ESTATES AND PROTECTED INDIVIDUALS CODE [[EXCERPT)
Act 386 of 1998

700.2502 Execution; witnessed wills; holographic wills.
Sec. 2502.
[[1) Except as provided in subsection [[2) and in sections 2503, 2506, and 2513, a will is valid only if it is all of the following:
[[a) In writing.
[[b) Signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction.
[[c) Signed by at least 2 individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after he or she witnessed either the signing of the will as described in subdivision [[b) or the testator's acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.

[[2) A will that does not comply with subsection [[1) is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if it is dated, and if the testator's signature and the document's material portions are in the testator's handwriting.

[[3) Intent that the document constitutes a testator's will can be established by extrinsic evidence, including, for a holographic will, portions of the document that are not in the testator's handwriting.

So you can see that if the handwritten will is dated, and mostly written in the testator's own hand, it will also be valid. I think in California that holographic wills don't even have to be dated, but of course without a date, it'd be extremely risky if another one showed up.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

^^ Thanks for the info.

[StuBass1]

Anyone writing an alleged last will and testament on scratch paper or a yellow pad, especially anyone with an estate worth more than $5,000, and leaving it stuck under sofa cushions would at first bring up their state of mind and mental stability at the time they wrote that document, or question the legitimacy of the document itself and it's true origin. This makes no sense. I know Aretha employed some questionable business practices throughout her career, but if she were truly concerned for her heirs and was using practical common sense, she would have paid a lawyer even $1,000 for a simple basic will...She could have even gone online and written a will on LegalZoom.com for under $100...