I respected Prince for his business sense and intelligence nearly as much as I respected his creativity and talent. His foresight is what made him cutting edge in art and business. Somehow it was not applied to get his affairs in some kind of order after his death. The mess is disappointing. All these nobodies grabbing at his money and family bickering.

[Snip - luv4u] may generate and, most likely, his brilliant catalog. It will be a shame and disappointing for me. I am irritated that there is no will and no provisions to ensure that at least some of his fortune benefited the people that he tried to help and those who need it the most.

Nope.

Prince was about his music and his die-hard fans. The way he left his affairs pretty much guarantees his die-hard fans will get access to everything in the vault sooner rather than later. He hooked us up yet again.

I feel you, that as a African-American who made it, it seems like such a waste that in the end his wealth would not transfer to his own people but instead empower other races and cultures that oppress his people (just like MJ's dumb azz, btw), but I posted that over and over again here while Prince was alive to the point I'm confident he read it and considered the possibility, but in the end did not give AF for some reason, so...

[Edited 7/30/16 8:33am]

Bunsterdk said:

selah said:

Bunsterdk said:

Nope. He had his reasons. Just because we don't know them doesn't make them less valid. His music. His money. His legacy. His decision. I'm cool with that.

You can't take it with you, and he knew that "someday somebody would release it" Probably even let Tyka know that too. ..she moved quickly enough. .

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Exactly. He talked to lots of people over the years. Sheila E knew the basic plan, also.

He cared about two things: his music and Paisley Park.

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Not for me to judge his business decisions. Grown man. Ownership of masters in 2014. Top dog in the Paisley universe. The estate is as he wanted it to be, whether intentionally, or unintentionally.

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I'm just looking forward to the releases. I really hope the Estate for Prince offers something for everyone...from single disc remasters to massive super-deluxe options. (i.e. Pink Floyd just announced a massive 27-disc super-deluxe box set in November for their early years.)

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My responsibility is to pay for the Prince music I obtain legally. Who that money goes to was up to Prince. Hopefully he made all that clear to the estate.

Just to provoke the discussion, I would like to hear someone articulate why anyone here should care about how Prince's estate is settled.

I have seen comments here and on Facebook questioning the motives and maligning the reputations of individual members of his family.

There also have been numerous threads that seem to either hope or express shock at the potential that Prince had a child who may stand to inherit the estate. Many of them are judgmental, if not condescending.

So, why should we care? It's not our estate. I'm not aware of any regular posters on this site who are blood relatives of Prince.

From a fan's perspective, does it really matter whether Prince had a will? No one here has ever stood to have any influence on what became of his music or his belongings.

I'd love to hear a well-reasoned, non-emotional answer.

NorthC said:

What's wrong with white and Asian people?

Don't feed the

EnDoRpHn said:

What can you do, he didn't have a will. I just want to hear his music. It's a mess, but not my mess.

BillieBalloon said:

I think Prince must have left some instructions otherwise why would they be taking the youtube videos down? and why would the estate close down the Prince museum website? Who is instigating all this and why? I understand people are protecting their investments but he must have stipulated that his legacy be protected the same way it was when he was alive imo. Otherwise why would they bother? Is it Tyka carrying on her brothers wishes?

Good points. I hadn't thought of that.

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I am not dissappointed in him, but I can say that if I were a member of his family, I would be dissapointed that he didn't leave a will.

I have been through this situation twice now where someone in my family with assets has died leaving no will.

It is pure torture on everyone involved.

Not only are you grieving about the loss of your loved one, but then you have to try and figure out what they would have wanted and who should get what.

The bigger the estate the worse it is.

Sometimes the loss of a family member makes the family pull together.

Other times it drives them apart.

If Prince had written down his wishes, everyone could know what his wishes were and they could all work together towards carrying them out.

As it is now, everyone had to get their own lawyer.

I don't know why he didn't leave a will, but my best guess is that he was expecting to have another 10 to 15 years before he'd have to get serious about writing one.

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[Edited 7/30/16 11:19am]

QueenofCardboard said:

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I am not dissappointed in him, but I can say that if I were a member of his family, I would be dissapointed that he didn't leave a will.

I have been through this situation twice now where someone in my family with assets has died leaving no will.

It is pure torture on everyone involved.

Not only are you grieving about the loss of your loved one, but then you have to try and figure out what they would have wanted and who should get what.

The bigger the estate the worse it is.

Sometimes the loss of a family makes the family pull together.

Other times it drives them apart.

If Prince had written down his wishes, everyone could know what they were and they could all work together towards carrying them out.

As it is now, everyone had to get their own lawyer.

I don't know why he didn't leave a will, but my best guess is that he was expecting to have another 10 to 15 years before he'd have to get serious about writing one.

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[Edited 7/30/16 11:15am]

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Exactly. His dad lived to be 85 or so (he was 42 when Prince was born).

He was in no panic about a will and was *willingly* accepting rehab to preserve his own health.

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I was very disappointed at first, but that was solely because I was such a student of his words to make sure I had my business in order. I am a fan of his music, but studied what he said about the Music Business even harder. So for me, the disappointment came from me feeling he didn't take his own words to heart.

After a while though, I've come to the mindset that if he didn't have a wife and children, or a significant relationship with anyone, he probably didn't care to go the extra mile of creating a will. When I did mine (after he passed), it was time consuming, and I couldn't imagine how much thought, paperwork, and research would have to go into securing his estate.

Just my opinion. I'm not trying to tell the family anything about how his estate should be handled. Not one bit.

luv4u said:

NorthC said:

What's wrong with white and Asian people?

Don't feed the

No one said anything about something being wrong with Europeans and Asians or any combination of human--ah well, except for the "opressors of" part. It'd have maybe been nice for him to give one more little boost toward ONE under-empowered tribe of people on the globe--Black lives matter! 'Nuff said on that.

[Edited 7/30/16 12:02pm]

only that he shouldve been consciencious about WHO would be making money off his vault. Now it could be money hungry siblings or rec co. or lawyers-----instead shouldve been charities

Bunsterdk said:

Nope. He had his reasons. Just because we don't know them doesn't make them less valid. His music. His money. His legacy. His decision. I'm cool with that.

Best answer in the world.

I haven't grow dissapointed. He seems to have pretty much kept his affairs in a kind of order while alive, except for that O.D.-ing thing (grrr)! I feel that the undefined state of Prince's affairs could seem somehow challenging for those directly impacted in the tranfer of his stuff, which certainly isn't going to me.

>

I let myself wonder about motivations/scenarios for his not having a will, though: Too busy with other things? Did not wish to be blamed of favoritism by family & potential non-family benefactors? He'd simply be gone and didn't GAF? A high belief in entropy?

The only think I'm sick and tired of is the fucked up media circus run amuck.

Nope, it was his affairs, and obviously it didn't matter to him or else he would have left a iron clad will. Why should I or any fan care, it's none of our business? Prince knew that he couldn't take it with him, so I guess it didn't matter to him one way or another what happened to it after he was gone. His life on earth is over, and so are his earthly cares, and just like Prince, the inheriters are going to go through the exact same thing when they pass, it will all just get passed down over and over again.

[Edited 7/30/16 12:06pm]

avajane said:

No, it just made me realize he had no idea he was going to die so suddenly. There still was so much he wanted to do and of course having a will and all his property, etc. covered would have been one of those things to do. [Edited 7/30/16 12:05pm]

Some people never get around to that stuff until they are very old...and some don't.

avajane said:

No, it just made me realize he had no idea he was going to die so suddenly. There still was so much he wanted to do and of course having a will and all his property, etc. covered would have been one of those things to do. [Edited 7/30/16 12:05pm]

I agree. I'm not an estate attorney but it seems most people don't feel an urgency about a will/trust/instructions until they have children. He was thinking about his legacy by starting his memoir but that's not the same thing. I was more surprised than anything else because Prince really seemed to to be the last person to leave a mess.

PurplePeace said:

avajane said:

No, it just made me realize he had no idea he was going to die so suddenly. There still was so much he wanted to do and of course having a will and all his property, etc. covered would have been one of those things to do. [Edited 7/30/16 12:05pm]

I agree. I'm not an estate attorney but it seems most people don't feel an urgency about a will/trust/instructions until they have children. He was thinking about his legacy by starting his memoir but that's not the same thing. I was more surprised than anything else because Prince really seemed to to be the last person to leave a mess.

I thought that about my father until two years ago...when he finally made a will, funeral plans, etc. for the first time in his life. But, he only did that after seeing what a mess his younger brother left behind when he died without a will... And my father ain't young.

Makes me wonder if ultra-rich musical aging artists like The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, etc. have wills in place... Never thought about it before, quite frankly...

[Edited 7/30/16 12:36pm]

Bunsterdk said: