In a separate court filing, the “Respect” singer’s son, Kecalf Franklin, previously claimed the 2014 will stated his mother wanted him to serve as representative of the estate.

A 2010 document shows that Aretha named White and Owens as executors but in the 2014 document, their names were crossed out and Aretha chose Cunningham.

White has said he does not believe Cunningham crossed out the names.

On August 6, a judge will consider a request to have a handwriting expert examine the documents.

Meanwhile, Cunningham has asked for a temporary restraining order to be granted against Owens to stop her from making decisions about the estate.

According to TMZ, he claims that she sold property and personal items and also transferred a vehicle to her own name.

He further alleges that she “received an unspecified amount of money on behalf of the state”.

Don Wilson – a lawyer based in Los Angeles who worked for Aretha for 30 years – previously claimed he had spent a long time trying to persuade his client to get her affairs in order.

He said: “I tried to convince her that she should do not just a will but a trust while she was still alive.

“She never told me, ‘No, I don’t want to do one.’ She understood the need. It just didn’t seem to be something she got around to.”

Mr. Wilson added: “She was a private person.”