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Case file s1694 · Music and sport · 2016
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2016
Prince at Coachella 001: Prince performing at Coachella 2008.
Prince at Coachella 001. Micahmedia at en.wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
21 April 2016; estate split 1 August 2022
Place
Paisley Park, Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA
Field
music · Music on the timeline
Legal tradition
US common law (Minnesota intestacy; federal estate tax; Delaware LLC law) · Common law
Historical event
Investment firms buying stakes in music estates (Primary Wave and the Prince heirs, 2021 to 2022)
Religion
Prince (musician): Other (recorded as Jehovah's Witnesses on Wikidata; Converts to Jehovah's Witnesses on Wikipedia)
Music and sportSecret heirsProbate and trust law2015 to 2026Secret children and false heirsDied without a willBrothers and sisters in courtSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Prince died without a will, more than 45 people claimed to be his relatives, and his estate took 6 years and a tax court case to divide

Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on 21 April 2016, aged 57. An autopsy found fentanyl toxicity. He left no will, spouse or children. On 27 April 2016 Judge Kevin Eide appointed Bremer Trust as special administrator at his sister Tyka Nelson's request; Comerica Bank & Trust took over at the end of January 2017. More than 45 people claimed to be his wife, children, siblings or other relatives. In May 2017 Eide named 6 heirs: Tyka Nelson and the half-siblings Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson. Minnesota's Court of Appeals upheld the rejection of other would-be heirs. On 19 April 2018 Carver County Attorney Mark Metz filed no charges, saying Prince believed he was taking Vicodin. Dr. Michael Schulenberg agreed to pay $30,000, admitting no liability, to settle a federal allegation that he prescribed oxycodone for Prince in a bodyguard's name. Comerica appraised the estate at $82.3 million and the IRS at $163.2 million; Comerica sued in US Tax Court. In January 2022 they agreed on $156.4 million, and the IRS dropped a $6.4 million penalty. Tyka Nelson, Baker and Jackson sold their shares to Primary Wave. On 1 August 2022 Eide approved an almost even split between Primary Wave's Prince Oat Holdings and Prince Legacy LLC, run by the advisers L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer for the 3 oldest heirs or their families. When Sharon Nelson and relatives tried to remove them, Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick ruled on 5 July 2024 that their amendment was invalid. Tyka Nelson died on 4 November 2024. In February 2025 the estate and Netflix shelved Ezra Edelman's 9-hour documentary. In April 2026 the estate and Apollonia dismissed her 2025 trademark suit without prejudice. Status: probate closed in 2022; under the 2024 Delaware ruling McMillan and Spicer manage Prince Legacy LLC; no final judgment reported†.

What the law took from it

Without a will, state intestacy law picks the heirs, and the court must rule on every claim of kinship before the estate can be divided.

Sources
  1. nbcwashington.comPress
  2. CBS NewsPress
  3. news4jax.comPress
  4. abc13.comPress
  5. newschannel5.comPress
  6. CBS NewsPress
  7. mprnews.orgPress
  8. mprnews.orgPress
  9. kstp.comPress
  10. swnewsmedia.comPress
  11. wsvn.comPress
  12. spinmagazine.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Prince died without a will, more than 45 people claimed to be his relatives, and his estate took 6 years and a tax court case to divide,” story s1694, https://www.celebrity.estate/prince-2016, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportSecret heirsProbate and trust law2015 to 2026Secret children and false heirsDied without a willBrothers and sisters in courtSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States