Prince Rogers Nelson (the musician known as “Prince”) died on April 21, 2016, in Minnesota. It is estimated that the beloved pop star left an estate worth $100–$300 million. He apparently left no will or trust to direct the disposition of his estate, i.e., he died intestate. As hopeful beneficiaries, family members, and would-be family members attempt to position themselves to receive a slice of the Prince pie, the court must now rely on Minnesota’s intestate succession statutes to determine how to administer and divide up Prince’s complex estate. The probate process will involve identifying and valuing Prince’s assets and debts and determining his closest living heirs or next of kin, as defined by Minnesota law. Determining Prince’s closest living heirs or next of kin is certain to be especially complicated because of the non-traditional structure of his family. Prince’s status as a famous musician, the magnitude and makeup of his estate, and the public nature of the probate process create the perfect storm for a long line of would-be heirs claiming to have a seat at the table, slowing down the process, and sharply driving up the administration costs for the estate.
It was surprising to many, considering Prince’s superstar status and the size of his estate, that Prince died intestate. However, a majority of Americans die intestate. According to a Gallup poll conducted in May of 2016, two weeks after Prince’s death, some 56% of Americans admitted that they did not have a will. Intestacy statutes are avoided relatively easily by executing a will or transferring property through various non-probate means, but people still fail to do so for various reasons.
People may procrastinate when it comes to making their wills for many reasons. Perhaps they do not want to face their own mortality or are superstitious about making a will. People may believe that drafting a will is too expensive, or they may just dislike the idea of going to a lawyer. Sometimes the estate planning process requires people to make decisions that are perceived as just too difficult to deal with. Questions of who should be nominated as the guardian of minor children or to what extent a potential beneficiary should be included or disinherited may cause a person to freeze and stop the process until the problem goes away due to the passage of time.
Complicated family dynamics may also make individuals reluctant to address estate planning issues. Issues such as trying to protect both a current spouse and the children of previous marriages or deciding what to do with estranged family members can seem overwhelming and cause some to simply avoid the planning process altogether. People may assume or hope that intestacy laws will distribute their assets according to their wishes, but in reality, many people do not understand their state’s intestacy statutes. Some put their heads in the sand, rationalizing that death will not happen to them, at least not for a long time. People can come up with many excuses to put off estate planning, even though they know that death is inevitable and that they do not know when they will die.
“Testamentary freedom is a ‘sacred privilege’ and an important incident of property ownership; scholars argue the freedom is necessary to preserve the social institution of private property and to provide economic leverage to the elderly who might otherwise be deprived of care toward the end of life.” The non-exercise of testamentary freedom is rarely the result of an individual intentionally relying on the default rules of intestacy. Few Americans know or understand their state’s intestate succession laws, or people do not think they have enough of an estate to worry about planning. Many individuals intend to make a will, but unfortunately, that intention is all too often not realized.
In light of all of the issues—legal and personal—surrounding intestacy, the Prince estate presents an especially compelling case study for how intestacy currently works and how it could work, specifically in Minnesota. To explore this case study, this article will first provide background on intestacy, including its consequences, its history, and current issues in adapting it to modern American families. Then, after describing Prince’s family, this article will examine how the disposition of Prince’s estate would change under different circumstances or legal rules, including if a will were located, if there had been an estate plan, and if Minnesota used a functional approach to intestacy law. This article concludes by summarizing the progress of the administration of Prince’s estate and offering observations on how proper planning could have prevented the difficulties with his estate—difficulties that can arise for many people, not just famous artists like Prince.