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Legal wrangling over Prince estate over as judge signs off on deal
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 3 August 2022
A judge in Minnesota finally signed off earlier this week on a settlement deal in relation to Prince’s estate.
The musician had not prepared a will before his untimely death in 2016, resulting in much legal wrangling between the six siblings – mainly half-siblings – who were named heirs. Along the way there were disagreements about the management of the estate – including who should do the managing – and the decision of three of his siblings to sell some or all of their respective shares in his assets to Primary Wave.
That said, despite those disagreements causing some delays, in the end the longest delay came from sorting out the estate’s tax affairs. A deal was reached with the US Internal Revenue Service back in January, which gave Prince’s assets and rights a final tax valuation $156 million. A formal structure for sharing out the estate’s assets was then agreed, with companies subsequently being set up to manage everything.
According to Billboard, last week it was confirmed that those assets will be split between an entity called Prince Legacy LLC, involving the heirs and their advisors L Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer, and Prince Oat Holdings LLC, which is a Primary Wave owned vehicle.
Confirming a permanent structure for the Prince estate was now properly in place, a spokesperson for Primary Wave said: “Prince was an iconic superstar and this transfer out of the court’s jurisdiction puts in place professional, skilled management”.
“When we announced our acquisition of the additional expectancy interests in the estate last year bringing our ownership interest to 50%”, they went on, “our goal was to protect and grow Prince’s incomparable legacy. With the distribution of estate assets, we look forward to a strong and productive working relationship”.
Meanwhile advisor McMillan said that the new arrangement would ensure music industry experts rather than bankers were in control of Prince’s estate.
“I represented Prince for over thirteen years and we led with innovation to reform the music industry”, he added “we hope to do the same with his amazing assets and catalogue, from his music, film content, exhibits, merchandise, Paisley Park events, branded products and more. It is a historical and very exciting time. Prince is almost free to rest now”.
