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A Minneapolis Probate Lawyer Discusses the Death of Prince and the Shock Regarding His Estate
As you know, music superstar Prince died last week. Yesterday, his sister, Tyka Nelson, filed documents with the probate court stating that he did not have a will.
Now what?
The court documents listed six siblings or half-siblings as heirs to a legacy estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
The probate Petition asked the court to appoint a special administrator to handle Prince’s affairs and that she be appointed to probate his estate. The siblings are listed as his only remaining heirs as he had no surviving spouse or children.
A main issue will be the value of his estate? Valuing the potential licensing rights of his image and music is a difficult task. One estimate put the value of his music catalog alone at over $500 million.
It’s difficult to believe that someone who was so meticulous about the control of his image, likeness, name and recordings during life would not have given any thought to the same after his death
While Ms. Nelson stated In her court filings that she did not know of the existence of a will and had “no reason to believe that the Decedent executed testamentary documents in any form doesn’t mean there wasn’t a plan.” It’s possible he created a will that hasn’t been located or was filed with the County and won’t be released except to the court. Or perhaps he created a trust, which is a private document, and has a lawyer quietly working to administer the Trust.
A huge advantage of a Trust is it’s privacy. A benefit that would appear to appeal to someone as notoriously private as Prince.
Stay tuned as this will, most likely, get more complicated.
MN Estate Planning Lawyer
Even if you don’t have a 500-million dollar estate, please make things easier on your loved ones, call a qualified Minnesota Probate and Estate Planning Lawyer at (952) 95507623 now to set up an initial consultation.