Mr. McKelvie leads the firm’s probate litigation team. He specializes in enforcing the rights of heirs and beneficiaries, usually in cases where those in control are violating the decedent’s last wishes. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence after the death of a parent. Worse yet, in most cases the victims aren’t aware of their rights and the perpetrators get away with it.

Before specializing in probate litigation, Mr. McKelvie represented plaintiffs and defendants in numerous jury trials, bench trials and arbitrations. He handled a wide variety of complex commercial cases including civil lawsuits, class action lawsuits, stockholder derivative actions, minority stockholder oppression claims, and business break-ups. He successfully argued cases before the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals involving noncompete agreements, federal estate taxes, international trade, bankruptcy and insurance coverage issues. His wealth of experience gives his clients a distinct advantage in the courtroom.

Mr. McKelvie has been quoted and featured in news articles around the world. For example, his representation of one of Aretha Franklin’s sons in a fiercely contested will contest here in Michigan has been widely reported.

Mr. McKelvie graduated from the University of Michigan in 1974, With Distinction, and from Wayne State University Law School in 1977. He has been awarded the highest “AV” attorney rating by Lexis-Nexis/Martindale Hubbel.

Mr. McKelvie is admitted to practice in all State and Federal courts in Michigan, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, the U.S. Tax Court and the United States Supreme Court.

In The News

TRIAL OVER ARETHA FRANKLIN’S ESTATE GETS UNDERWAY
Queen of Soul’s sons begin public battle for her assets

Judge Narrows Focus to 2014 Handwritten Document in Aretha Franklin Estate Trial

By Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK

Two of Aretha Franklin’s sons testified Monday before an Oakland County jury as a trial got underway to help settle the late star’s long-running estate saga.

Monday morning, ahead of the proceedings, probate court Judge Jennifer Callaghan tightened the parameters of the trial, which was originally expected to assess two documents handwritten by Franklin in the years before her 2018 death. Instead, the six-person jury will decide simply whether a four-page document written by Franklin in 2014 fits the criteria to be considered a will under Michigan law. Franklin’s sons have already agreed that the other document, written and notarized in 2010, meets those requirements and qualifies as a will.

The trial in Oakland County Probate Court, which flared with tensions a couple of times Monday, will help determine the final wishes of one of the most towering figures in 20th-century music and culture. After five years of legal wrangling, combative court filings, and bickering among brothers, the suburban Detroit jury trial, rare in probate matters, is a kind of grand finale. Still, Callaghan could be the one to make the ultimate ruling. That depends on the jury’s decision, which will either put two competing wills on the table or leave just one. The status of the March 31, 2014, document may come down to the Queen of Soul’s signature. It appears toward the bottom of the last page — although not at the very end — inscribed as “A. Franklin,” with a smiley face drawn inside that first initial. Franklin commonly signed her name that way. An exhibit produced in court Monday showed that same style of autograph embedded in cement at a Detroit museum.

Three of Franklin’s sons were in the courtroom Monday. Another son, Clarence Franklin, the eldest, has special needs and resides in an assisted-living home. An undisclosed agreement was reached among the other brothers ahead of the trial to provide his financial support. Also watching on Monday were Aretha Franklin’s grandchildren Jordan, 28, Victorie, 24, and Grace, 17. Two of Franklin’s sons, Kecalf and Edward, are advocating for the 2014 document. Their attorneys argued Monday that the “A. Franklin” was clearly intended as a certifying signature. Because the document was also written and dated by Franklin, it thus qualifies as a will in Michigan, they argued. “Edward believes this 2014 document represents her most current wishes … and thus should be honored,” his attorney, Craig Smith, said in an opening argument. An attorney for Ted White II, a son who is pushing for the 2010 will to prevail, pointed out that the 2014 signature is followed by several more lines of text. White’s attorney contended the “A. Franklin” is merely a notation next to a line about a Bloomfield Township property the singer had sold to the Detroit Pistons’ Joe Dumars. White’s attorney also noted that in her 2010 will, Franklin marked all 11 pages with the distinctive signature. The 2014 document should be regarded simply as a draft or notes, he argued.

Kecalf, who at 53 is the youngest of the sons, was first to testify. He spoke from the stand as four enlarged copies of the 2014 document were displayed for the jury.

In that document, Aretha Franklin wrote that Kecalf should get her main Bloomfield Hills home, “for him & my grandchildren.” Kecalf has two sons and two daughters.

Kecalf said that when his mother died in August 2018, he was not aware of any existing will and assumed Franklin’s assets would be split evenly among the four brothers as dictated by Michigan law.

That would change months later. Sabrina Owens, a niece of Franklin, testified via deposition that she discovered both documents in May 2019 at the late singer’s house.

Owens, then the estate’s executor, had gone there hoping to turn up anything to “get some direction” as Franklin’s estate was sorted out. Inside a cabinet, she found a key encased in bubble wrap, and she realized it opened a locked desk drawer near the foyer.

There, alongside record contracts and other documents, she found the 11-page document from March 2010, along with an accompanying note dated that October.

That same day, Owens said, she found the 2014 document under a couch cushion among three spiral notebooks containing Franklin’s doodles and personal notes.

Kecalf testified that his mother spent a lot of time on that living room couch, handling business and even often sleeping there. He said the area was not tidy, with “a lot of papers around.”

Under cross-examination by his brother’s lawyer, Kecalf conceded Franklin did tend to store important papers at her desk, but that it “doesn’t strike me as odd” she would have stashed one in the couch.

Ted, a professional musician who worked with Franklin for 30 years as a touring guitarist, later took the stand, testifying that his mother undertook key documents “conventionally and legally,” often consulting with lawyers.

The “freehand” 2014 document “was the first time I’d ever seen that,” he said.

A heated moment came during cross-examination, when Charlie McKelvie, an attorney for Kecalf, produced papers indicating that Ted has attempted to trademark his mother’s smiley-faced “A. Franklin” signature. The judge blocked that line of questioning after an objection by Ted’s lawyer.

Tensions flared again when Smith, the attorney for Edward, probed at Ted’s Florida residency, questioning whether he did regularly spend time with his mom. The judge also blocked that inquiry.

Following jury selection and a lunch break, the trial’s start was slightly delayed Monday when a juror who had sworn in sent a note to the judge asking to be dismissed. The reason was not made public, and the juror was replaced with an alternate.

The prevailing document will determine how Franklin’s estate — valued at $18 million shortly after her death — is apportioned among the sons and other potential heirs.

The 2010 will distributes her properties fairly evenly, calling for Ted and Kecalf to share ownership of the main Bloomfield Hills home, previously appraised at $1.1 million, while providing “a 1st class home” for Edward. It also asks that her jewelry, furs, furniture, and music royalties be split evenly among the four sons. The 2014 document, in addition to willing the main house to Kecalf, calls for royalties and bank funds to be split among the three youngest sons.

A third, typed will document, prepared by a Troy law firm months before Franklin’s death and uncovered in 2019, was ruled out of consideration by Callaghan after an April hearing. The ailing singer had never signed it and voicemail recordings indicated she sought changes to the draft that were not made. The April hearing had brought a dramatic scene as 20 minutes of those voicemails were played in court. Monday, the judge listened again to a two-minute section in which Franklin stated she revoked “any and all” previous wills. Ted White’s attorney sought to have it played for Monday’s jury, but the judge opted against it, saying she had already ruled the typed document had no standing.

Closing arguments are scheduled to be heard Tuesday morning, with jury deliberations to begin afterward.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.