April 26, 2016

"Prince’s sister has said the superstar musician had no known will..."

"... and that she has filed paperwork asking a Minneapolis court appoint a special administrator to oversee his estate."
[Tyka] Nelson says in her filing that an emergency exists because immediate action is necessary to manage Prince’s business interests. She’s asked that Bremer Trust, a corporate trust company, be named administrator.

41 comments:

David Begley said...

Hard to believe there is no will.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Well, someone stands to inherit a princely sum.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Did anyone think to look in his top desk drawer?

Jay Vogt said...

Odd to think that his business manager would not make him have will drafted.

Yet if there was one, by now someone at Faegre would have come surfaced with it.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Of course, whomever inherits it should hope that it is an American princely sum, rather than a British princely sum.

mccullough said...

Like Howard Hughes. I expect a few different wills to start appearing soon

walter said...

For a guy who changed his name to deal with contract issues, seems odd.

traditionalguy said...

No wife, no kids, no dog. No need to write a will except to keep it from your sisters.

traditionalguy said...

When giving advice to the Will phobic, we say you don't need to do your will until the day before you die...just time it right.

They get the point.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

traditionalguy said...

When giving advice to the Will phobic,...

You might also want to point out that the amount of time and money you spend getting your will done is a small fraction of what your loved ones will have to spend if you die without one.

FullMoon said...

He did not plan on sudden death, and he could not decide how to distribute assets.
I would imagine he would have spread his fortune out to many friends, family,and charities .

Mike Sylwester said...

He hand-wrote a will and left everything to me.

(If someone has a sample of his handwriting, send it to me quick.)

MisterBuddwing said...

No big deal if I were to die intestate (a fancy word I picked up from "Perry Mason") - but how on earth did Prince never get around to writing a will? You'd think someone with enough personal influence would have sat on him until he agreed to meet with an estate lawyer.

traditionalguy said...

The only expense to Administration different from Will Probate and an Executor is posting bond if the heirs do not or cannot consent to no bond.

It appears they solved that by naming a Trust Company to serve as Administrator. And they need no bond.

rehajm said...

The office was discussing the potential value of the estate. Given Prince's prolific recording nature and speculating about future revenues from the collection a present value in solid nine figures didn't seem out of the question, though until there's an inventory audit it's difficult to say.

rhhardin said...

Direct that your money be heaped up outdoors and burned.

That's actually giving it to the government, but is more impressive to heirs.

MadisonMan said...

Not having a will is a great burden on the people who survive you.

Why yes, yes I am speaking from personal experience!

Michael K said...

She's probably lucky. Michael Jackson excluded all his siblings.

His mother has guardianship of his children and has spent $20 million between 2009 and 2012.

Theranter said...

If he had no one legally designated to handle his affairs, how was it that he was cremated so quickly? Did he want to be cremated?

If his full bio sister is his closest relative, was it her word on cremation vs body burial, and if so, how do they legally determine so quickly that she (or whomever decided) was legit in doing so?

Could be he had a living will that addressed disposition of his body, but he never got around to a regular will for property nor set everything up in a trust w/designated executor(s)?

(I've wondered about the cremation thing since I first heard it so shortly after his death-- maybe it still bothers me because I do not want to be cremated, but lack the means to leave money for burial.)

David Begley said...

Uncle Sam thanks Prince for his estate tax payment.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

There's is Prince and then there is this guy...

Billionaire Daniel Keith Ludwig Had Frozen His Genetic Material, Believing His Estranged Ex-Wife's Daughter Might Challenge his Will. 40 Years Later (and after his Death) She Sued The Estate And Lost, Because DNA Analysis Proved He Wasn't Her Father.

That is foresight.

Kate said...

The money is not the only issue. Content, which is now so protected, could be released. YouTube awaits an executor.

MisterBuddwing said...

No wife, no kids, no dog. No need to write a will except to keep it from your sisters.
-------------

This.


So... not writing a will was Prince's way of ensuring his siblings would get his estate? (Seems to me a will would have achieved the same result with far fewer legal complications.)

jacksonjay said...

Having a shitty will is a great burden on the people who survive you.

Why yes, yes I am speaking from personal experience!

pm317 said...

Two alternatives:

1. He didn't think he would die so soon.
2. He didn't care what happened after he died. He is dead, what does he care what they do with his things, especially if he didn't have anybody close like wife/children.

madAsHell said...

If Jimi Hendrix is any indication, then I predict several really bad albums will be pulled from the audio archive that he left behind.

Old joke.....what did the publicist say when he heard of Elvis's death? "Great career move!!"

Fabi said...

Tyka's request for an outside trustee seems reasonable.

The estate probably has a value of a half-billion. I wouldn't be surprised if his catalog royalties are $25 million per annum. Rumors of 2,000 unreleased songs in his studio vault could be worth tens of millions. That's enough money to guarantee that it gets very ugly before it's over. Sad, but true.

MisterBuddwing said...

1. He didn't think he would die so soon.
2. He didn't care what happened after he died.


No. 1 sounds irresponsible, if understandable. No. 2 sounds just plain irresponsible.

traditionalguy said...

So what's wrong with his sisters getting their brother's inheritance and a Trust Company hiring the lawyers and the accountants to process the title transfer of the equal shares to them. You get what you pay for.

At least no pious Church looted the guy's family. He was too smart.

One lesson that is worth saying is you should get a Lawyer to do your will. We are not that expensive.The internet wills are crap. The un-avoidable loopholes are in the execution and witnessing ritual. This area of Probate law comes down from Catholic Church ideas from 600 years ago and us lawyers have spent the entire time since then making sure that you need us.

'TreHammer said...

The "third eye" thing creeps me out.

Michael K said...

"Rumors of 2,000 unreleased songs in his studio vault could be worth tens of millions."

Michael Jackson was broke when he died. That was really a great career move. It has appreciated a hundred million since his death. I don't think even his mother can spend that fast,

William said...

The Grammy people should hire someone to walk behind the winners and say "Remember thou art mortal and to dust to thou shalt return". If enough people treat you like god, then you start believing it. Mortality comes as a nasty surprise to many in the entertainment industry.

Birches said...

That is insane.

Barry Dauphin said...

I'm surprised that a guy who put a lot of effort into protecting his intellectual property rights would not have taken this step. But it is hard for many people to think about their own deaths.

Spiros said...

I hope this man had some illegitimate children. And why the rush to cremate the body? Was some DNA, hair, toothbrushes, whatever, preserved for the inevitable paternity suits?

jr565 said...

I'm Prince's son. So, I expect to inheret a fortune.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. DNA be damned.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BN said...

I am writing a book called:

"Wills and Fuckin' Lawyers"

Go to this link to buy it.

DanTheMan said...

Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a hooker?
A: A hooker won't screw you after you're dead.

Oh Yea said...

I identify as Prince's son. Who are you say otherwise?

the gold digger said...

1. He didn't think he would die so soon.
2. He didn't care what happened after he died.

No. 1 sounds irresponsible, if understandable. No. 2 sounds just plain irresponsible.


My husband has been dealing with his parents' estate for almost a year. They left a will, but didn't do the things they could have been doing to make cleaning up after them easier. (His dad was too busy watching online porn.) They made a list of things to do in 2010 and did none of them: http://diaryofagolddigger.blogspot.com/2016/03/in-which-primo-clarifies-for-me-what.html

My favorite part is that they spent years threatening to disinherit him (they were not wealthy people) if he did not get me "in line" - and then disinherited him anyhow. But made him the executor. And the trustee for the trusts for the grandchildren. And specified that he could not be paid for his work as trustee.

Rest in peace, jerks.