Prince’s Estate: No Will, a $156.4 Million Value, and Six Years of Probate
No. Prince died on April 21, 2016, at his Paisley Park home in Carver County, Minnesota, without a will. A Minnesota judge ruled in 2017 that his six siblings were his heirs. The IRS and the estate’s administrator agreed on a $156.4 million value, and a judge approved the deal to close the estate on July 29, 2022, about six years after his death, according to the Associated Press.
Prince’s estate is the best-known American example of what happens when a wealthy person with no spouse and no children dies without a will. When there is no plan, much of the process leaves the family’s hands, as the reporting on Prince’s case shows. I’m not speculating about why he had no will. The facts below come from reporting on the court record by the Associated Press, MPR News, Variety, Billboard and Rolling Stone, and from Minnesota statutes. The filings were public, so we know the numbers.
With no will, a court picked the administrators and state law set the list of heirs
No will named an executor, so a court picked who ran the estate. For Prince, it started on April 26, 2016, five days after his death, when his sister Tyka Nelson filed an emergency petition in Carver County asking the court to appoint a special administrator. In the filing she said she did not know of a will and had no reason to believe he had signed one, according to Variety’s account of the AP report. She asked that Bremer Trust, which had handled Prince’s financial affairs, serve temporarily. More than a year later, in an order made public in May 2017, Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide declared that Prince died without a will, the AP reported, and named his heirs. Prince had no spouse and no children, Entertainment Tonight reported, citing Billboard.
State law, not the person’s wishes, sets the list of heirs when there is no will, and more than 45 people tried to get on it in Prince’s case. The Carver County court named six heirs: Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, and five half-siblings, Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson (AP and MPR News, May 2017). More than 45 people said they were Prince’s wife, children, siblings or other relatives, the AP reported. The court rejected those claims, and some of the rejected claimants appealed. Judge Eide said he would consider any claimant the appeals courts sent back to him.
Minnesota’s intestacy statute decides who inherits when there is no will, and friends and business partners aren’t on its list. Under Minnesota Statutes § 524.2-103, the part of the estate that does not go to a spouse goes first to the decedent’s descendants, then to the parents, then to the descendants of the parents or either of them. Under that structure relatives inherit, so a sister and half-siblings were the heirs.
No will named an executor, so a court appointed the administrators, and they changed once. Bremer Trust served first as temporary special administrator. In January 2017 Judge Eide named Comerica Bank & Trust as corporate personal representative, effective at the end of that month, MPR News reported. The judge wrote that Bremer had “walked into personal and corporate mayhem” with records scattered and heirship and money claims about to arrive, MPR News reported in its coverage of the order. He also declined to add a co-personal representative, saying the siblings could not agree on who it should be and that another role would add expense and delay.
Valuing Prince’s intangible assets took until October 2021, and the value moved by $74.1 million
No court record states a net worth for Prince at his death. His estate was valued at $156.4 million in the settlement between the IRS and the estate’s administrator, according to the Associated Press in January 2022. Forbes estimated in April 2016, days after he died, that the estate was worth between $150 million and $300 million, and court filings put its value at close to $200 million in 2017, a figure MPR News said was based on fees paid to the first administrator.
Valuing intangible assets such as music rights took until October 2021, and the value swung by about $74.1 million between the administrator’s earlier appraisal ($82.3 million) and the settlement ($156.4 million). The IRS valued the estate at $163.2 million in 2020. Comerica’s own appraisal was $82.3 million, the AP reported. Comerica sued the IRS in U.S. Tax Court in mid-2020, saying the agency’s calculations were riddled with errors. The settlement came in at about 1.9 times Comerica’s appraisal, and the IRS dropped a $6.4 million accuracy-related penalty. The Minnesota Department of Revenue also dropped an accuracy penalty, according to court filings the AP described.
| Value | Amount | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Estimate days after his death (2016) | $150 million to $300 million | Forbes |
| Administrator’s appraisal | $82.3 million | Comerica Bank & Trust, per the AP |
| Settled value (January 2022) | $156.4 million | IRS and Comerica, accepted by the heirs, per the AP |
| IRS value (2020) | $163.2 million | Internal Revenue Service |
The settled figure is the value the IRS and the estate agreed on for estate tax. The IRS and Comerica settled on the real estate in spring 2021, but valuing intangible assets, such as rights to Prince’s music, took until October 2021, the AP reported. A Tax Court trial set for March 2022 in St. Paul was canceled. Comerica said in a court filing that the settlement was “fair and reasonable” but that it believed it would have prevailed in Tax Court. It also said the heirs had told it they strongly wanted to settle with the taxing authorities.
A comparison of his tax bill to today’s rules would mislead, because the thresholds were for a 2016 death and the federal exemption for 2026 deaths is $15,000,000, according to the IRS. The AP reported that estate taxes would run into the tens of millions of dollars. It said a little over $5 million of the estate was exempt from federal estate tax, with a 40% rate above that, and that Minnesota exempted the first $3 million, with much of the rest likely taxed at 16%.
Primary Wave bought several heirs’ interests and ended up with about half
Primary Wave, a New York music company, bought several heirs’ interests in the estate before it closed. By the end of the case it held about half of the estate’s value, with three of the six heirs and their families holding the rest, according to the AP. Billboard’s account of the court papers filed in July 2021 shows how the stake built up. In March 2020 Primary Wave bought part of Tyka Nelson’s expectancy interest. An April 2021 order confirmed its purchase of all of Alfred Jackson’s interest, and on July 2, 2021 it finished buying all of Omarr Baker’s interest. Billboard, citing the Wall Street Journal, said the company then held 42% of the estate and controlled 50%. The three heirs who did not sell were Sharon, Norrine and John Nelson. L. Londell McMillan, an attorney for those three, said family members who sell are within their rights, Fox Business reported, citing the Star Tribune. The case also outlasted two of the six heirs: the AP reported that Alfred Jackson and John R. Nelson had died by January 2022.
The case closed after six years and tens of millions of dollars in professional fees
The case took six years, and the AP reported that lawyers and consultants were paid tens of millions of dollars for administering the estate and planning its distribution. At a hearing on Friday, July 29, 2022, Senior Judge Kevin Eide approved a deal to distribute the estate’s assets, saying, “This has been a long road,” according to the AP. The deal split the estate’s cash and holding companies evenly between two successor entities, Prince Legacy LLC and Prince Oat Holdings LLC. Each received around $2.8 million in cash and half of the membership units in the estate-owned companies, including NPG Records and Paisley Park Enterprises, the AP reported. Comerica kept a $3 million reserve to pay closing costs, including tax returns and professional fees, and was discharged from its duties and liability as personal representative through the end of a transition period, according to Entertainment Tonight’s summary of the court order.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 21, 2016 | Prince dies at Paisley Park in Carver County, Minnesota |
| April 26, 2016 | Tyka Nelson petitions for a special administrator and says she knows of no will |
| January 2017 | Judge names Comerica Bank & Trust personal representative, replacing Bremer Trust |
| May 2017 | Court finds no will and names six heirs |
| 2020 | IRS values the estate at $163.2 million; Comerica petitions the Tax Court |
| July 2021 | Primary Wave completes its purchase of a second heir’s interest |
| January 2022 | IRS and Comerica settle on $156.4 million |
| July 29, 2022 | Judge approves the deal to distribute assets and close the estate |
What a will decides, and what Minnesota requires of one
A will names who is in charge and who inherits. A living trust that is funded can carry assets to the people you choose without a court case for the assets inside it. California has its own order of heirs if you die without a will, and the dying without a will page and the intestate succession definition walk through it. For the cost and timeline of a California probate, see what probate costs in California and how long probate takes. For trust funding, see trust funding in California. For large estates and the tax side, see California estate tax in 2026.
Minnesota law also sets formal requirements for a will. A Minnesota will must be in writing, signed by the person making the will, and signed by at least two individuals who witnessed the signing or that person’s acknowledgment of it (Minnesota Statutes § 524.2-502). A later section, § 524.2-503, lets a court treat a document that missed those steps as a will if the proponent shows by clear and convincing evidence that the person intended it as one. By its terms that section applies to documents executed on or after March 13, 2020, so it did not apply to anything Prince could have signed before his death in 2016.
I can’t say a different plan would have changed what happened to Prince’s estate. If you want to set up your own plan, start with estate planning at Ridley Law.
Related celebrity estates
- Celebrity Estates: What Famous Wills, Trusts and Probate Fights Teach
- Aretha Franklin’s will: handwritten wills and a Michigan jury
- Michael Jackson’s estate and the IRS valuation fight
- Chadwick Boseman’s estate: no will, Los Angeles probate
Frequently asked questions
What was Prince’s net worth when he died?
No court record states a net worth at death, but his estate was valued at $156.4 million in the settlement between the IRS and the estate’s administrator, according to the Associated Press in January 2022.
Did Prince have a will?
No. Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide declared in 2017 that Prince died without a will, the AP reported. Five days after Prince’s death, his sister Tyka Nelson filed an emergency petition in Carver County asking the court to appoint a special administrator.
Who inherited Prince’s estate?
The Carver County court named six heirs: Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, and five half-siblings, Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson (AP and MPR News, May 2017).
Who ran Prince’s estate while it was in court?
A series of court-appointed administrators did, because no will named an executor. Bremer Trust served first as temporary special administrator.
How much was Prince’s estate worth?
$156.4 million, the value the IRS and Comerica Bank & Trust agreed to in a settlement reported by the AP in January 2022. The IRS valued the estate at $163.2 million in 2020.
What happened with Primary Wave?
Primary Wave, a New York music company, bought several heirs’ interests in the estate before it closed. By the end of the case it held about half of the estate’s value, with three of the six heirs and their families holding the rest, according to the AP.
How did Prince’s estate finally close?
At a hearing on Friday, July 29, 2022, Senior Judge Kevin Eide approved a deal to distribute the estate’s assets, saying, “This has been a long road,” according to the AP.
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