Prince’s sister says artist had no known will

Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, filed paperwork stating that she doesn’t know if her late brother had a will or trust — in which case she and his half-siblings could inherit his estate.

“I do not know of the existence of a will and have no reason to believe that the decedent executed testamentary documents in any form,” she said in court documents. She asked a Carver County probate court in Minneapolis to appoint a special executor to oversee the settlement of Prince’s affairs, and place a corporate trust company, Bremer Trust, to act as emergency administrator in the meantime.

Nelson said she does not know how much money Prince had, only that he left “substantial assets.” The rock legend owned $27 million worth of property in and around Minneapolis, according to public records, and he earned hundreds of millions from touring and selling records over his career. Still, The Associated Press suggests that Prince did not have all that much cash on hand.

Prince did not have a wife or known children, and his parents are dead, so under Minnesota law, if no will turns up, his assets will be divided among his siblings, including half-siblings. In the court document, Tyka Nelson listed five living half siblings — John Nelson, Norrine Nelson, Sharon Nelson, Alfred Jackson, and Omar Baker — plus a deceased half sister, Lorna Nelson. In the MSNBC video below, legal correspondent Ari Melber explains that Prince may have filed a will in secret, and Prince also changed lawyers and managers fairly frequently. “I really can’t believe in the short time since he died that they made a thorough search,” University of Minnesota law professor Judith Younger tells AP.

Agencies/Canadajournal