Franklin’s lack of a will means long wait for heirs

LOS ANGELES — Aretha Franklin was so hardnosed in her business dealings that she demanded to be paid in cash before performing. Her heirs won’t have it so simple.

Although she lived to 76 and was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer, the Queen of Soul died without a will.

As her four sons and other family members move on from Friday’s funeral in Detroit, they’re left with the potentially tall task of finding out how many millions she was worth and divvying it up, a process that could take years and is likely to play out in public.

Experts in estate law expressed surprise but not shock that a wealthy person such as Franklin would put off making a will until it was too late. At least one of the singer’s attorneys said he urged her repeatedly over the years to create one.

“I tried to convince her that she should do not just a will but a trust while she was still alive,” said Don Wilson, a Los Angeles lawyer who worked on entertainment matters for Franklin for nearly 30 years. “She never told me, ‘ No, I don’t want to do one.’ She understood the need. It just didn’t seem to be something she got around to.”

Papers filed in Michigan’s Oakland County court last week by David J. Bennett, the lawyer who worked most closely with Franklin, lay out the few known basics:

She was not married and left four sons, ages 63 to 48: Clarence Franklin, Edward Franklin, Kecalf Franklin and Ted White Jr. Clarence, Aretha’s eldest, is incapacitated and is represented by a guardian.

And a niece of Franklin’s has accepted the role of executor.

Under Michigan law, as in most states, the sons will equally divide their mother’s assets in the absence of a will.

Once the value of the estate is established, the IRS will take any back taxes owed and then tax her estate at 40 percent for any assets beyond $ 11.2 million.