​​Aretha Franklin’s final wishes remain unsettled, even five years after her death.  An unusual trial starts next Monday (July 10) to decide which of two handwritten wills, including one found in couch cushions, will determine estate handling.

The Queen of Soul had four sons and no formal will, despite health problems and attempts to create one. Under Michigan law, other documents can still be treated as her commands, even if they have scribbles, scratch-outs, or hard-to-read passages.

Ted White II prefers 2010 papers for estate control, while Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin prefer a 2014 document. Both were found in Franklin’s Detroit home after her death from pancreatic cancer in 2018 at age 76.

Have you written a will?