I have been wondering why Prince has (most likely) left no will. At first I was shocked because he was such a control freak in life. I had just automatically assumed that he would also take control over his music and business after his death by leaving a will with precise instructions. No such document exist apparently.

So why did he not leave a will? A few possible reasons have been going 'round in my head:

• Prince was just not interested enough yet in doing a will as he probably thought he was going to live on for a few more decades. No hurry, so to speak.
• He was too busy and looked up to the task of going through the immense amount of content in his Vault(s) and categorize it. And thought: "Well, they can do with it whatever they want after I die".
• I think being young, staying 'young' and looking good (young) was quite important to Prince. He was always saying stuff like "time is a trick", he prefered to hang out with young people, etc. I think perhaps Prince was hoping to beat ol' grim reaper as long as possible by just ignoring/not acknowledging his own aging and inevitable death. To the point where he didn't leave a signed will, as that would be an acknowledgement (confirmation) that he would die one day.
• I read somewhere here at the Org that perhaps he didn't leave a will because during his life was not feeling really comfortable/free to release his older really wild and sexy 'adult' songs, with him being part of a JW congregation. But I bet in private Prince was probably still proud of making those songs (even if it was just for the music and not the lyrics). By not leaving a will there are no restrictions to what type of material can get released, and Prince was not involved in making any possibly difficult decisions. All of it can get released now, also the sexy stuff, without the 'burden of sin' (if anything like that even exists) on Prince's shoulder.

Anyone else been wondering about his will?

funkaholic1972 said:

One article mentioned that Prince did not like to sign anything. That was their explanation. I do not think we every know. I do hope that something turns up soon.

It does seem inconveivable that he wouldn't have a will, just because he would have been advised to make one all the way back when he was young and got his first big check. He was a touring musician. Travelling all the time. Running businesses, had employees, properties, assets... all the way back then.

He probably just wanted to leave his affairs in Gods hands or the Universe and let the dust settle where it may. Not far fetched at all.

bookwomen said:

One article mentioned that Prince did not like to sign anything. That was their explanation. I do not think we every know. I do hope that something turns up soon.

Yeah read something about his old lawyer, forgot his name .. Londell?, who said something along those lines.

Plus I think that there is no will because Prince thought he had more time left on this earth (so he could take care of it some other time).

The following things only make that more clear IMO: he died all alone in a freakin elevator (who the fuck wants to die in such a miserable way?), again - he left no will, there is no one to take care of his social media accounts - these are now just frozen in time, he just received a brand new Yamaha piano he was excited about, he just started writing his memoirs (allegedly he had 50 pages done), and according to that Van guy he had several charity things planned for later this year, PLUS ... he had an appointment with (the son of) that pain treatment doctor that morning!!!

... so yeah, I think there is no will because Prince did not expect to die that soon

[Edited 5/9/16 17:31pm]

Wills are just another form of CONtract.

I don't know. I'm really beginning to think he had a reason. NO clue as to what it was but I'm really feeling it's more than just a tagline going on.

One of the best gifts you can give to your family is a will - a document stating your exact wishes (and backup plans) and that it can't be contested. It helps family and friends move forward knowing that they respected what you wanted. It also helps with the grief process. Wondering what you wanted and trying to make decisions when they need to be made - everyone knows the world doesn't stop just b/c you die business' have timelines(banks,life insurance, taxes)-are 100x more difficult when one is grieving. It doesn't make the loss any easier, but it helps take the burden off family that are left behind. Without one, it can tear families apart.

BanishedBrian said:

Wills are just another form of CONtract.

Wasnt thinking about dying.

Whether or not he thought he was going to die soon, somebody must have been giving him legal advice about a will. Wouldn't his lawyer(s), insurance people, and whatever management he had be on him about it all the time? And his ex-lover had just died early. My folks had a will by their forties - they did have kids, but they also didn't have Prince's millions, his charitable causes, and a vault full of recordings to be concerned about. It doesn't make sense - think of how guarded Prince was about bootlegging, for example, having teams of lawyers go after a woman for a video of her baby dancing to "Let's Go Crazy" on television, and keeping his music in a locked vault. Obviously he was concerned about his legacy and how the songs he felt were his possessions would be distributed. I read on the Org that he once told someone to burn the vault - he might have been blowing smoke but if I were him I would want to know the fate of my life's work, whether I wanted it destroyed or preserved. Maybe a will is going to surface.

purplethunder3121 said:

BanishedBrian said:

Wills are just another form of CONtract.

http://www.billboard.com/...-interview

"When we worked with him, there was no manager, no lawyer, no agent, no business manager. It was just him and the two of us. And when we started this [Musicology] thing, Paul and I had a sit-down with [billionaire AEG owner] Phil [Anschutz] one day, we had to tell Phil that Prince won't sign anything, there's no contract."

A will is not a contract to do do business. the no signing thing only happened in the latter half of his career, and you can bet he signed things outaide of concert agreements. He went through two marriages, that were cleanly wrapped up, remember?

I keep hoping a will would be found (dang I've got a will and I've organised my own funeral should anything happen to me) maybe someone has hidden it?

There is a will.

Goddess4Real said:

Goddess4Real said:

I keep hoping a will would be found (dang I've got a will and I've organised my own funeral should anything happen to me) maybe someone has hidden it?

Makes me realize I really need to have one made. A real wake up call.

oceancrayon said:

ufoclub said:

A will is not a contract to do do business. the no signing thing only happened in the latter half of his career, and you can bet he signed things outaide of concert agreements. He went through two marriages, that were cleanly wrapped up, remember?

Signing divorce papers is a requirement for divorce, having a will is not a requirement. The marriages ended amicably, so the divorce papers weren't a big deal.

Iamtheorg said:

There is a will.

Prince, being a control freak, may have left instructions for it not to surface until so many days past his death. Or maybe all money is going into some sort of secret trust. How would they find that out anyway?

RachB65 said:

Found this article..Perhaps they just havent found his will...yet. https://www.google.com/am...id-att-us#

I have this same feeling. There is a will, he would surely have left a will.

Has a control freak as he was there has GOT TO BE something.

If Prince never did a will,my guess is it is because he spent so much time "living in the now" and never really thought about his death and what will happen when he is gone.He probably thought 'I'll do it some other time'.

tmo1965 said:

Iamtheorg said:

There is a will.

Prince, being a control freak, may have left instructions for it not to surface until so many days

would that be done to find out what kind of character his family is made of? cool.

• I just hope someone remembered to look for it inside the finding nemo dvd case (seriously!)

• the idea that "making a will is too much acknowledgement of mortality" sounds likely to me. yet songs like letsgocrazy and sometimesitsnows.., intothelight, etc seem to be looking forward to the afterworld, and he was still singing some of them recently.

• maybe karmically he felt best about refraining from putting the responsibility for all those songs he created on another individual. in this life, he was maintaining strict control of them, perhaps to make sure that any profits made from his creations went to causes that he believed in, but once he payed all "the overdues" he could in this life, maybe the idea of a will as far as monetary distribution was an absurdity. but it does seem like he could have some favorite charities to give to.

• I have a feeling that, like solomon, prince only asked god for wisdom, and he was given it abundantly and that was the source of his wealth, why people wanted to pay for his art and his presence. If that were the case, then the surest inheritance is a universally accessible one found by asking for wisdom.

• i wonder if he saw all the vault material as unfinished, and he would just finish as song from there as led by inspiration, for as long as he lived, and after that, who would be qualified to finish that? but in that case, he probably would have arranged for it to self-destruct after a certain period of his abscence.

Prince liked to make music. Business seems like something he avoided as much as he could. To the extent he involved himself in business it was only because he felt he had no better choice. I forgot the guys names that ran the Musicology tour but they said the same thing. So you can see how a will might be something he never got around to.