Prince’s Legacy and Estate Complications

Prince’s estate

At the time of his passing, Prince held a wide-ranging estate which included:

• Music rights 
• Unreleased music
• Real estate properties, both in the US and abroad 
• Other personal and business assets 

However, Prince died intestate (without a Will). This fact, along with the complexity of his estate, led to a lengthy legal process involving Minnesota estate law and the laws of intestacy.

In addition to the  challenges experienced during the probate process; Prince’s estate has continued to face legal disputes. In 2025, the estate was involved in a lawsuit with Apollonia Kotero over trademark rights to the name “Apollonia,” highlighting the importance of including intellectual property protections in estate planning. Furthermore, a Netflix documentary about Prince was abruptly canceled by the estate, citing misrepresentation and lack of consent. This underscores the need for clear legacy management and control over public portrayals.

To arrive at a resolution, attorneys had to negotiate across three critical areas:

Heirs: The first challenge with Prince’s estate was establishing who the legal heirs were. While numerous parties stepped forward claiming to be heirs, ultimately, under Minnesota law, Prince’s siblings were his closest next of kin. This meant his full sister and five half-siblings shared equal claims on his estate assets. But without a Will to dictate the inheritance, Prince gave up his ability to specify who he may have wanted to inherit his assets—which may not have been where they ultimately ended up. Sadly, two of Prince’s half-siblings passed away during the lengthy estate process. This introduced another series of heirs – further complicating proceedings. Ultimately, the lack of a clear estate plan led to millions in legal fees as all six heirs retained their own legal counsel. 

Valuation: The second challenge was valuing the estate. While real estate can be easily valued by appraisal, the worth of Prince’s music and other intellectual property was much more difficult to size. Not surprisingly, the estate tax return was audited, as is frequently the case with hard-to-value assets. The estate tax return was filed by the Personal Representative at a value of $82.3 million, while the IRS valued the estate at $163.2 million. After much back-and-forth, the parties settled at a $156 million valuation.

Liquidation: The final challenge was determining the best way to monetize the assets to generate funds to pay the estate taxes due. A good portion of Prince’s estate value was in his catalog of music assets, including unreleased songs. These assets carried significant value, but the heirs agreed that they did not want these assets sold. But most of the heirs did not have the expertise as to how to best realize the value. Certain heirs sold interests in the estate to Primary Wave, a music publishing and talent company; and certain heirs delegated control to entertainment advisors. As such, after closure of probate, all decisions would have to be made with agreement between Primary Wave,  the heirs who retained an ownership interest and their advisors.Subsequently, disputes arose between the heirs and entertainment advisors, and in 2024 a Delaware judge ruled in favor of the advisors, who also were Prince’s former business advisors, allowing them to retain control despite attempts by some heirs to remove them. This ruling reinforces the importance of having a clear succession and management plan in place for complex estates. 

Lessons learned: Six years and millions in legal fees

That was the cost of Prince dying intestate. And, in many cases, these challenges could have been avoided with strong estate planning.

Let’s consider each of the challenges in this case:

Heirs: A Will would have definitively settled the allocation of assets, rather than leaving it to the intestacy laws of Minnesota. Prince’s heirs would have known exactly what they were receiving and why. 

Valuation: Working with an estate planning team, Prince could have established in advance awareness of the value of his holdings. He could have undertaken pre-death planning in efforts to reduce estate taxes. 

Monetization: Lastly, Prince could have planned for liquidation or monetization of this assets based on the terms that he would have wanted to occur, rather than those determined by an independent Personal Representative. Recognizing the significant tax bill and the needs of heirs, the estate plan could have included provisions for sale or license of music rights to specified parties, as well as distributing money from these activities to his heirs. 

Additionally, recent legal battles over estate management such as the 2024 court ruling that upheld the authority of Prince’s former business advisors demonstrate the importance of clearly defined roles and succession planning.

As you plan your estate, keep these steps in mind

Outline your wishes. Take the time to name your heirs and establish their inheritance in a Will. Further, explain your thought process to heirs, either in writing or in discussion, to avoid confusion and arguments. 

Plan for the complexity of your estate. If your estate includes assets that can be difficult to value, build in contingencies. 

Build in plans for liquidity. Where you know assets will need to be liquidated to cover taxes or set the heirs up for success, integrate this process into your estate documents. Plan for liquidation events and the process for turning complex assets into easily transferable ones. 

Lastly, consider working with a professional. The right estate planning advisor will help you think through the steps of your estate planning and prepare your heirs for the future.