A handwritten note found underneath the sofa of the late soul singer Aretha Franklin can be used as her legal last will and testament, a jury has ruled.
The decision was the latest turn in a dispute that has pitted her sons against each other, after Franklin died leaving no formal will behind.
Two separate handwritten notes were discovered by Franklin’s niece following her death – one dated 2010 and one dated 2014 – which named different sons as executors to her estate.
The note from 2010 was discovered in a locked cabinet at the late singer’s home, which named Ted White II as the executor. Meanwhile, the document from 2014 was discovered under a cushion on the sofa, and saw Ted White II’s name crossed out, and Kecalf Franklin named in his place.
According to that document, Kecalf and grandchildren would inherit her main home, which was valued at $1.1m (£850,000) when she died but is worth much more today.
It took less than an hour for the jury in Michigan to deliberate in favour of Kecalf and his brother Edward.
Kecalf said: “I’m very, very happy. I just wanted my mother’s wishes to be adhered to.
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“We just want to exhale right now. It’s been a long five years for my family, my children.”
Image: A lawyer examining one of the notes at the centre of the trial. Pic: AP
Both notes, while different, said that all four of her sons would share money made from royalties and copyright.
The managers of Franklin’s estate have been settling tax debts and attempting to generate money from music royalties and other intellectual property, with the dispute over the will being largely unfinished business.
The older document had stated Kecalf and Edward “must take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” before they could benefit from the estate – a provision removed from the 2014 note.
Image: Kecalf Franklin and his family following the trial. Pic: AP
During the brief court case, Ted White II argued against the 2014 will, saying “with all the time I spent working with her administratively … every other document that she ever signed was something that was done conventionally and legally” – and with assistance from a lawyer,
Denying a rift with his brother, Kecalf told reporters: “I love my brother with all my heart.”
It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.
When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.
He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”
Image: Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.
Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.
“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.
“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”
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Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.
Image: Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.
“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”
While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”
Image: Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”
“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”
When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”
Image: Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’
Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.
“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”
While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.
“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”
Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?
Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”
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Associate professor of neurology Dr Laura Stein told Sky’s US partner NBC News: ” The most well-described risk factors include a predisposition [family history of aneurysm], high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and inflammation.”
She went on to explain that most fatal ruptured aneurysms are in the brain, killing about one in three patients.
“When it’s a blood vessel that’s in the head and it bleeds, there’s a much higher risk of having a very bad problem just because the brain is enclosed in a fixed space,” Dr Stein added.
Low-risk aneurysms are monitored by doctors for growth or abnormalities, and there are a series of potential treatment options for those considered dangerous.
Elsewhere in The Kardashians clip, Kim admitted that her ex-husband Kanye West will be in her life “no matter what” because of the four kids they share together.