Aretha Franklin’s sons are going to court over her estate. Here’s what to know.

The battle over Aretha Franklin's estate is now going to trial in probate court, with proceedings set to kick off on Monday

Aretha Franklin, the electrifying “Queen of Soul,” died in August 2018, closing the curtains on one of the most illustrious careers in American popular music. But in at least one crucial respect, her story is not over.

Five years after Franklin’s death at her home in suburban Detroit, her last wishes remain an open question and the subject of intense debate. The battle over the singer’s estate is now going to trial in probate court, with proceedings set to kick off Monday.

The singer did not leave behind formal, typewritten instructions for her money and property. Eight months after her death, however, handwritten wills were found hidden in her home — including one inside a spiral notebook crammed under sofa cushions.

Three of Franklin’s four sons are divided on the future of their mother’s estate. Ted White II, Franklin’s third son, believes a document from 2010 should hold sway, while Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin, her second and fourth sons, prefer a document dated March 31, 2014, according to court filings submitted to Oakland County Probate Court in Pontiac, Michigan.

Clarence Franklin, the singer’s eldest son, will not be involved in the courtroom drama. He has special needs and lives under a legal guardianship, and both wills say he must be supported financially by the estate. (“Kecalf, Eddie and Teddy must check on Clarence and give him$,” Franklin wrote in the 2014 document, according to one of the court filings.)