Aretha Franklin Will Found in Couch After Her Death Is Valid, Jury Rules

A jury determined a handwritten document found in Aretha Franklin‘s couch is a valid will … a major development after years of her kids battling over her estate.

The ruling on the hard-to-read pages came in Tuesday in a Michigan court. The will was found in 2019 — the year after she passed — in a notebook tucked under the couch in Aretha’s Detroit home.

The docs, dated March 31, 2014, are significantly different from a 2010 draft of her will.

The newer pages apparently designate her sons Kecalf and Edward as executors of her $6 million estate, and it looks like the name “Teddy,” AKA Ted White II — their brother who was pinned as executor in the 2010 version — is crossed out.

What’s more, the 2010 will appeared to require Kecalf and Edward would have to take business classes, and get a degree or certificate to benefit from Aretha’s estate — but the 2014 version doesn’t include that requirement.

TMZ broke the story, no will was initially found when Aretha died in 2018 following a battle with pancreatic cancer — but since then there has been an all-out war between her children.

The game of Aretha’s financial throne is finally over.