Legal dispute over Prince’s estate continues: Judge rejects lawsuit against heirs

Over eight years Following Prince’s death, and nearly two years after the lengthy legal battle over his estate appeared to have come to an end, a legal battle over control of half of his estate is now coming to court.

In January, during an 18-month litigation-free period for the estate, Prince’s former attorney L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer Jr., who together represented three of the singer’s six siblings, filed a lawsuit against four members of Prince’s family – including his half-sister Sharon Nelson, whom they had previously represented in the estate dispute – seeking control of an LLC formed in 2022 to manage the 50 percent stake it owned in Prince’s estate.

On Friday, a judge in Delaware – where McMillan and Spicer’s lawsuit was filed – denied the heirs’ motions to dismiss the suit, heralding further litigation over Prince’s estate. Prince died in April 2016 without a will and his estate was divided equally among his six siblings and half-siblings, two of whom died during the seemingly never-ending legal battle.

In the lawsuit, McMillan and Spicer argued that Sharon Nelson tried to oust them from their leadership roles at Prince Legacy LLC, which was formed in 2022 after the IRS estimated the value of Prince’s estate at $156 million. This ruling was supposed to finally end the court drama. “It’s been a long six years,” McMillan said at the time of the 2022 decision.

But the lawsuit alleges Sharon Nelson regretted the terms and sought to control the LLC by amending the agreement to remove McMillan and Spicer as principals. In Friday’s ruling, the judge sided with the plaintiffs on that claim as well, saying Sharon Nelson did not have the authority to amend the LLC without authorization. The Associated Press reports.

Other defendants in McMillan and Spicer’s lawsuit include half-sister Norrine Nelson, Prince’s niece Breanna Nelson and his nephew Allen Nelson. The lawsuit also describes Sharon Nelson’s efforts to assert her authority over Prince’s museum-turned-Paisley Park residence, where she “attempted (unsuccessfully) to replace all of Paisley Park’s staff with persons of her choosing and to assume management of Paisley Park.”

The lawsuit only relates to about a 50 percent share of Prince’s estate, as three of the heirs sold their shares to the music management group Primary Wave shortly after Prince’s death. Primary Wave’s share of the estate is not the subject of the latest round of lawsuits.

By Rolling Stone US