Judge believes it will take time to settle rocker’s estate

Most Florida residents know that not having a will can lead to big problems for potential heirs. Without the proper estate planning tools to guide them, a decedent’s family will not know how to correctly allocate assets from the estate. Worse, the heirs may begin to fight with one another over what asset belongs to whom and it could take years to properly settle the estate.

Family and friends of the late rocker Prince are currently going through this exact situation. The beloved singer and guitarist, who died suddenly of an accidental opioid overdose in April, passed away without leaving a will to properly distribute all of his estimated $300 million dollars in assets. To complicate matters further, the judge assigned to his probate litigation case has indicated that a final decision about Prince’s assets will not be forthcoming anytime soon.

The judge came to this conclusion after observing that since the Minnesota rocker didn’t have a will, a current wife or any children, the assets of Prince’s estate may have to be divided up between his sister, five half siblings and perhaps other heirs who haven’t been identified yet. The judge warned about two dozen attorneys who represent potential claimants to Prince’s estate that he will not rush to any final decision about the rocker’s assets. He went on to say that he will send his decision about Prince’s estate to an appellate court for an additional review. This decision will further delay any final estate decision. The judge’s decision was a setback for Prince’s sister, who was hoping to gain control of her brother’s estate.

Source: pagesix.com, “Figuring out Prince’s $300 million dollar estate is going to take a while“, June 27, 2016