Aretha Franklin’s estate planning deserves no respect

investmentnews.com:

First it was the King of Rock and Roll’s family battling over the legitimacy of his daughter’s will. Now it’s the Queen of Soul’s kids clashing in a courtroom over handwritten wills found scattered around her house.

Seriously, and with all due R-E-S-P-E-C-T, will somebody explain why music’s royalty can’t pass down their estates without their heirs getting all shook up?

It’s barely been two months since a settlement was reached over the will and multimillion-dollar estate of Lisa Marie Presley, the late daughter of music legend Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla. The settlement, for which terms were not disclosed, resolved a dispute Priscilla raised that challenged the validity of an amendment to Lisa Marie’s will.

Hot on the heels of the Presley family’s document drama, a similar quarrel is being decided this week in court regarding the last wishes of Aretha Franklin, who died from pancreatic cancer in August 2018.

Originally, it was thought the soul singer had left no will for her extensive estate, which included homes, cars, jewelry and of course, fur coats. The lack of a will would have caused her property to be split evenly among her four sons.

But nine months later, handwritten wills were found in a cabinet and under a sofa cushion at her home in suburban Detroit. The discovery led to a schism between Franklin’s offspring, who took sides over which of the documents truly reflects her last testament.

The question will soon be decided by a six-person Michigan jury. Experts say, however, that it didn’t have to end up this way.

“Aretha was surrounded by lawyers throughout her career — when she made an album, when she toured, when she appeared in a movie — and while she hired an estate lawyer, the testimony showed