Awesome Kennedy Center clip… and awesome seeing the Obamas too. Man I miss all of them…
Sad to lose her talent but she’s had a pretty great life after a not so good start. Being a mother of two at age 14 and ending up as a music icon who brought joy to millions and millions with her music is a life well-lived. Her work for civil rights and social justice will live on, as will her music. We could use more Aretha’s in the world today.
Apparently, Aretha left no will. That just blows my mind.
My BIL had no assets to speak of, but the fact that he left no will or any kind of testament to his wishes caused many problems and heartaches in our family. I cannot imagine someone of her stature leaving nothing at all-the problems something like that can cause just boggles the mind. And surprising to me due to the fact that she knew she was dying!
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/22/entertainment/aretha-franklin-will/index.html
A bit suspicious, I would say. A lawyer could draw up a will or a trust document and send to to her to be signed quite easily. And it would be easy to tell her what would happen to her estate if she had no will.\
If the estate is actually 80M, as is being tossed around in the news, then almost half of it will be taken by the federal government. Some of that could have been mitigated over time with some planning, but it sounds like there wasn’t any.
The article cites her lawyer who apparently said he tried to convince her to set up a trust.
An unmarried person with children… that should be easy to apply Intestacy scheme. A huge portion of her estate is probably copyright rights and future royalties… not as easily dividable as money in the bank.
Prince also had no will or trust, and the probate is apparently messy even though all heirs have been identified. There is apparently no consensus among the half-siblings as to what to do with his unreleased songs etc.
H’s relative had no will until the last week of her life, when she decided she would have one, had an attorney come to her residence, set it up and have everyone sign. It saved her heirs over $100,000 in probate fees, as well as lots of time and headaches.
My very first record was Respect when I got one of those phonographs that the lid opened up and closed to play. Growing up in Detroit area with so many great musician and groups. I actually went to junior high or high school in Oak Park with her son, Ted White Jr. Her husband Ted White wrote a lot of her early songs. What a voice /talent!
Surprising there was no will. So much might have gone to causes she cared about as well as family members.
A rainbow appeared over Tiger Stadium during her tribute. Gave me goosebumps.
For the life of me I don’t understand why she didn’t have a will, especially since she has a special needs child.
^^^^Totally agree.
Also surprising since she had a cancer diagnosis and had time to get her affairs in order. It is puzzling to me as well.
Unfortunately some of it is cultural. I have loss count of the number of relatives and acquaintances who have died without wills. It would take far too long to explain in this thread but needless to say it also ties in with her keeping a bunch of cash on her. My grandmothers, their siblings etc ALWAYS have a ton of cash hisden aroubd the house because they have a distrust of banks.
The lack of a will is unfortunate, but I don’t think it’s suspicious at all. Her lawyer was a California entertainment lawyer. He’d know a lot about contracts, copyrights and such. She needed a Michigan trusts and estates lawyer. The California entertainment lawyer wouldn’t necessarily be competent to design an appropriate estate plan for a Michigan resident. That was outside his area of expertise, and even if he did know something about estate planning in California, Michigan law is quite different. So he advised her to get a competent lawyer to draw up the appropriate estate plan and she just didn’t do it. Perhaps the California lawyer could have been more proactive in getting a referral to a good Michigan estate lawyer and arranging an initial meeting or even accompanying her to that meeting if that’s what it took to make it happen, but that’s well outside the scope of what she had hired him to do.
Also, a lawyer can’t just write up a will or a trust instrument and send it to the client to be signed. For one thing, Michigan law requires that a valid will must we witnessed by at least two people who sign it after seeing the testator sign it, so at a minimum you need a little signing ceremony with other people involved. But beyond that, I think it would be pretty unethical for a lawyer to draw up a will or a trust without going over every detail with the client, so the document reflects what the client wants, not just what the lawyer wants or thinks best.
Is anyone watching Aretha’s funeral? Some thoughts so far…
Cecily Tyson’s hat is amazing. I think it has its own Twitter page already.
Faith Hill was really off key.
Ariana Grande was great, as usual, but what was she thinking wearing that dress to a funeral?
Who is the woman in the red jacket sitting next to Hillary Clinton?
Pink Cadillacs Will Line Up For Aretha Franklin’s Funeral
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/29/642871634/pink-cadillacs-will-line-up-for-aretha-franklin-s-funeral
I did think Cicely Tyson’s hat was very interesting. She looked and sounded great for 93!
She was lost under that hat!!
Cicely Tyson and her hat and her remarks are available on YouTube. She did not miss a beat. Amazing for a 93 year old.
The woman in red next to Hillary Clinton is the First Lady of Greater Grace, the church where the funeral was held. Her husband is the pastor who led the funeral services.