Aretha Franklin Died Without Leaving A Will Behind

Aretha Franklin will be buried on Friday August 31 at Greater Grace in Detroit. The funeral is going to be attended by her family members only. But before then, three public viewings of the musician's body will take place before she is finally laid to rest.

It has been discovered that legendary singer Aretha Franklin who died about a few days ago left no will behind after her death. This means that her estate worth about $80 million dollar has no incumbent owner.

This is very surprising to many given the fact that Aretha was a well know singer with a lot of reputation to herself, a reputation that presumably comes with a lot of legal aid.

More so, bearing in mind that the woman who died at the age of 76 had been ill for years, many people had expected her to have made plans with regards to her fortune.

Surprising as it may be, the documents obtained by TMZ confirmed that the singer died "intestate" (without a will). A court hearing in Oakland County probate court has automatically enlisted Franklin's four sons as those interested in her estate.

The fact that the legendary woman popular for her hit songs like “Respect” and “You make me feel like a Natural Woman” has a special needs son named Clarence who will always need a lot of financial assistance and more makes the lack of will more striking.

Clarence was born to the female artist when she was just 13. He was reportedly said to have been fathered by Donald Burke, a young boy she had met in school. He had always received the care of his mother and with her not leaving a will behind after her death, he might be affected in many ways. This does not exclude the other three children she had in her lifetime.

However, to make up for the question mark their celebrity mother left behind after losing her life to pancreatic cancer, the four children of Aretha have decided to share her wealth equally among themselves in line with the Michigan law.