Sister Is Doing It For Herself

When Aretha Franklin died last August, she was reported to have died without a will.  The administration of her estate proceeded accordingly.  This week her lawyer of 40 years said that her family had found three handwritten wills, two from 2010 and one from 2014, in her house.  The 2010 wills were in a locked cabinet while the 2014 will was in a spiral notebook under a couch cushion.  The wills look like gibberish at first glance.  A court will determine their validity in June.

Several points:

1.  Michigan law provides that wills should be signed in the presence of two witnesses (same as Ohio).

2.  Michigan allows for holographic (i.e. handwritten) wills if it is certain the writing is intended to be the person’s will and it is dated.

3.  Writing in a spiral notebook under a couch cushion rarely looks to be the final thoughts regarding the disposition of one’s assets.

4.  If someone has millions of dollars and millions more in expected music royalties, she should pay a lawyer to prepare a properly drafted will and trust and let the attorney keep it so there is no posthumous doubt about her wishes.  Get it right.

Photo Credit:  Mary Altaffer for AP
License:  Fair Use/Education (from linked article)

Sharia Estate Planning?

A document purporting to be the will of terrorist Osama Bin Laden was released this week.  The one page handwritten document dates from the late 1990's.  It was part of a cache of documents retrieved from his compound by Navy SEALs. In it, OBL gave 1% of his estate to one of his henchmen, 1% to another, and directed his family to use the rest of the estate to fund jihad.   No word on what happened to his estate at his death or whether he ever updated his will.

Several points:

1.  In Ohio a handwritten will is valid but it has to be witnessed by two individuals.  OBL's will was not witnessed.

2.  A will cannot make a bequest that promotes illegal activity such as jihad.

3.  In some Arab nations (cough, Saudi Arabia), promoting jihad is encouraged, not illegal.  
4.  After the San Bernardino murderers did not leave a will for their daughter and OBL left a will in the form of a letter, perhaps LegalZoom or Nolo can start marketing to the Sharia law set.  Their products cannot be worse than OBL's effort.

Thomas Kinkade - Painter of Light, Writer of Illegible Will

My horrible prognostication abilities continue.  If my prediction of a Romney landslide and a 9 game losing streak to end the fantasy football season were not enough, my earlier prediction of years of litigation to settle the dispute over Thomas Kinkades's estate was also wrong.  His estranged wife and his girlfriend of 6 months (although she preferred the term "soul mate"), settled their differences this week.  No details were revealed.  

The primary issue was the validity of 2 illegible handwritten wills made by Kinkade.  Far be it from me to cast stones about one's handwriting, but if someone is going to leave a handwritten will, it should at least be legible.