TMZ reports that Tyka, a former crack addict, has filed the probate documents in Minnesota, asking a judge to appoint a “special administrator”, who under the Minnesota law, is someone who is appointed when there is no executor named in a will.
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And it seems Prince’s remaining cash and other assets will be divided among his sister Tyka Nelson and five half-siblings as he didn’t make a will. Nelson nominated Bremer Bank, National Association (Prince’s bank) to serve as the “special administrator”. However, as things now stand, it appears Prince’s estate is headed for protracted and very public battle in probate court.
Prince’s first manager has previously voiced concerns that the star’s sister – a reformed drug addict – is not “business savvy” enough to handle the rights to her brother’s vast music catalogue. For example, Kevin Smith, who once regaled audiences on a college speaking tour with the tale of an unreleased documentary he shot for Prince, explained in the course of the story that the artist’s then-producer told him that she had produced 50 music videos for Prince songs that were never released. “I pray that he has left it in good hands with people who know what they’re doing”.
Prince’s untimely death on Thursday, April 21, has brought to light questions about his $300 million fortune. The petition also lists three half brothers and two half sisters as Prince’s heirs. As Prince didn’t have a spouse or descendants (his only child, Boy Gregory, died one week after birth), the Minnesota Statutes would direct his entire estate, including his intellectual property, to be distributed to his parents or, if they weren’t living, to his parents’ descendants.
Tuesday’s filing comes after reports that Tyka and her brother were close in recent years after a hard stretch in their relationship when Tyka was struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine and prostituting herself to support her two young sons, Sir Montece Laeil Nelson and President LenNard Laeil Nelson.
The statement said the “final storage” of Prince’s remains would be private. The cause of death was not yet known.
The most likely scenario, says tax lawyer Michael Kosnitzky, of Boies, Schiller & Flexner in NY and Miami, is that there is a will and that it sets up a trust or a series of trusts into which all of Prince’s assets at the time of his death will flow. Sales of his albums have soared since his death, reaching the top of the Billboard album charts.
“We will turn Paisley Park into a museum in Prince’s memory”, he said.
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Under Minnesota law, a person can file a will with a probate court in secret. As happened with Michael Jackson, he says the IRS could include in its valuation recordings or films released after his death, or merchandising deals that either didn’t exist before his death or increased in value only after his death. In Minnesota, for instance, half-siblings are treated the same as full siblings for the purposes of inheritance. The size of the fortune isn’t clear, and recent disputes suggest money was tight, after Prince continuously refused to “sell out” to lucrative endorsements.
