Aretha Franklin's Son Face Court Battle Over Her Two Handwritten Wills 5 Years After Her Death

July 6th, 1:19 PM EDT

Aretha Franklin performing at the Mann Center For The Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

MGN via ZUMA Press

PONTIAC, Mich. (NEWSnet/AP) — Five years after her death, the final wishes of music superstar Aretha Franklin are still unsettled.

An unusual trial begins next Monday to determine which of two handwritten wills, including one found in couch cushions, will guide how her estate is handled.

The Queen of Soul, who had four sons, did not have a formal, typewritten will in place, despite years of health problems and efforts to get one done. But under Michigan law, it's still possible to treat other documents — with scribbles, scratch-outs and hard-to-read passages — as her commands.

The dispute is pitting a son against other sons. Ted White II believes papers dated in 2010 should mainly control the estate, while Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin favor a 2014 document. Both were discovered in Franklin's suburban Detroit home, months after her death from pancreatic cancer in 2018 at age 76.