Legal Battle Over Prince’s 156M Estate Comes To An End

The six-year legal battle over Prince’s estate has finally come to an end. 

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the IRS and the estate’s administrator, Comerica Bank & Trust, agreed to value the late singer’s estate at $156.4 million. Per the report, the artist’s wealth could be distributed to his family beginning next month.

Previously, Comerica’s valuation was $82.3 million, while the Internal Revenue Service in 2020 had valued the estate at $163.2 million.

“It has been a long six years,” L. Londell McMillan, an attorney for three of Prince’s siblings, said at a hearing Friday in Carver County District Court, per the report.

The estate will reportedly be evenly divided between the New York-based music company Primary Wave “and the three oldest of the music icon’s six heirs or their families,” NBC News writes. 

Here’s more from the outlet: 

Taxes on Prince’s fortune will run into the tens of millions of dollars. Just over $5 million of Prince’s estate will be exempted from taxes under federal law, but thereafter the tax rate is 40 percent. In Minnesota, the first $3 million is tax-exempt; after that, much of Prince’s estate will likely be taxed at 16 percent.

Meanwhile, last summer, Prince’s archival studio album “Welcome 2 America” entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 4, giving the late icon his 20th top 10 album. He’s now among a dozen artists to reach the milestone since the chart began in 1956.

“Welcome 2 America” was recorded in 2010 but not released until this July 30. It marks his first newly-released album to reach the Billboard 200’s top 10 since his death on April 21, 2016, at age 57.