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<p>A jury found Tuesday that a handwritten will found in <strong><a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/?s=aretha+franklin&;post_type%5B%5D=post&;post_type%5B%5D=list_posts&;_gl=1*oatgao*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTE4Mjk4NTk5LjE2ODkxNzE2NDE.*_ga_V2HX8YP3XL*MTY4OTE3MTY0MC4xLjEuMTY4OTE3MTc0My4wLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aretha Franklin&#8217;s</a></strong> couch cushions is valid in Michigan and will ultimately override another one found over a decade ago, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/entertainment/aretha-franklins-handwritten-will-found-couch-cushions-is-valid-jury-decides" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Fox Business</strong></a> reports.</p>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">RELATED: <a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/handwritten-will-aretha-franklins-sons-fight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Handwritten Will In The Couch: Aretha Franklin&#8217;s Sons Continue To Fight Over Singer&#8217;s Last Wishes</a></h5>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">News Comes As A Victory For Aretha&#8217;s Sons, Kecalf And Edward Franklin</h3>
<p>The jury deliberated for less than an hour after a brief trial that began Monday, per the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/aretha-franklin-will-dispute-d7aba286b05ea0d0e6318ce6abc887d5" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Associated Press</strong></a>.</p>
<p>The handwritten will was reportedly conceived in 2014, four years after an earlier will was found locked in a cabinet in 2010. The &#8220;Respect&#8221; singer ultimately died without a formal will, the outlet reports.</p>
<p>The news is a victory for two of Aretha&#8217;s other sons, <strong>Kecalf</strong> and <strong>Edward Franklin</strong>. Their attorney had argued that handwritten papers dated 2014 should override the 2010 will, regardless of how it was written or where it was found.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;You can take your will and leave it on the kitchen counter. It’s still your will,&#8221; said lawyer Charles McKelvie, who represented Kecalf and Edward Franklin.</p></blockquote>
<p>Lawyer Craig Smith added: &#8220;Says right here: ‘This is my will,&#8221; regarding the 2014 document. &#8220;She’s speaking from the grave, folks.&#8221;</p>
<p>Aretha Franklin’s grandchildren hugged Kecalf and Edward after the verdict was read.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to,” Kecalf Franklin said. “We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”</p></blockquote>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Aretha Franklin&#8217;s Son Challenges Validity Of Mother&#8217;s Handwritten Will After Jury Find In Favor Of It</h3>
<p>However, Franklin&#8217;s son, <strong>Ted White II</strong>, claims the 2010 will was notarized and &#8220;done conventionally and legally,&#8221; according to the outlet. White II explained that this was unlike the informal handwritten will, found years later by Franklin&#8217;s niece, <strong>Sabrina Owens.</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;With all the time I spent working with her administratively &#8230; every other document that she ever signed was something that was done conventionally and legally,&#8221; he told the jury through his lawyer.</p></blockquote>
<p>Owens located the handwritten will while searching her Detroit home after her 2018 death.</p>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lawyer Representing Other Brothers: &#8216;Teddy Wants To Disinherit Them, He Wants It All&#8217;</h3>
<p>But attorneys for Kecalf and Edward Franklin characterized their brother, Teddy, in a different light.</p>
<blockquote><p>“(Teddy) wants to disinherit his two brothers. Teddy wants it all,” lawyer Craig Smith said during closing arguments Tuesday.</p></blockquote>
<p>The singer reportedly had a net worth of $80 million when she died. But the estate now has assets totaling less than $6 million, according to a report by the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66158755" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>BBC</strong></a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, her Bloomfield Hills home, valued at $1.1 million at the time of her death, is reportedly worth much more today, the AP reports.</p>
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