I've heard it suggested that the reason Prince didn't leave a will was because, as a Jehovah's Witness, to remain in good standing in the community, he would need to leave his inheritance to Witnesses. In not having a will, he could remain in good standing and his family would still inherit his estate.

I can't seem to find anything online about this. Can anyone shed some light?

leecaldon said:

I've heard it suggested that the reason Prince didn't leave a will was because, as a Jehovah's Witness, to remain in good standing in the community, he would need to leave his inheritance to Witnesses. In not having a will, he could remain in good standing and his family would still inherit his estate.

I can't seem to find anything online about this. Can anyone shed some light?

Heresay, not fact.


No religion bans anyone from creating a Will.

Not having one to 'remain in good standing' is boolshyte.

luv4u said:

leecaldon said:

I've heard it suggested that the reason Prince didn't leave a will was because, as a Jehovah's Witness, to remain in good standing in the community, he would need to leave his inheritance to Witnesses. In not having a will, he could remain in good standing and his family would still inherit his estate.

I can't seem to find anything online about this. Can anyone shed some light?

Heresay, not fact.


No religion bans anyone from creating a Will.

Not having one to 'remain in good standing' is boolshyte.

That was not the theory that was put forward or what I was saying. I said nothing about banning a will, only that the way of getting around leaving money to the church would be to not have a will and let law decide who inherits.

I'm not asking if Prince did this, but whether it's a plausible theory. How do JWs look upon wills and what should be done with them? I haven't found any info on it.

No, it's not plausible. It's more conjecture and conspiracy and unsubstantiated daydreaming. If Prince cared about his good standing w/ the kingdom hall, he wouldn't have been fuckin' women outside of marriage.

TrivialPursuit said:

No, it's not plausible. It's more conjecture and conspiracy and unsubstantiated daydreaming. If Prince cared about his good standing w/ the kingdom hall, he wouldn't have been fuckin' women outside of marriage.

luv4u said:

luv4u said:

leecaldon said:

I've heard it suggested that the reason Prince didn't leave a will was because, as a Jehovah's Witness, to remain in good standing in the community, he would need to leave his inheritance to Witnesses. In not having a will, he could remain in good standing and his family would still inherit his estate.

I can't seem to find anything online about this. Can anyone shed some light?

Heresay, not fact.


No religion bans anyone from creating a Will.

Not having one to 'remain in good standing' is boolshyte.

Exactly!

JWs make wills and not everyone leaves anything to the church, like in any religion. some might leave something but not everyone and there's no "penalty" for not leaving anything in your will to JWs.

Not having a will wasn't a JW thing...it was a P thing.

TrivialPursuit said:

No, it's not plausible. It's more conjecture and conspiracy and unsubstantiated daydreaming. If Prince cared about his good standing w/ the kingdom hall, he wouldn't have been fuckin' women outside of marriage.

Video proof or it didn't happen.

I'll provide the snacks.

I think there were several organizations he would have wanted to leave something to, in addition to certain friends and family. It seems in the last months of his life he was preparing for after he was gone, but he had not yet been pushed to execute any end-of-life documents.

[Edited 1/30/17 11:58am]

Yes, this is most certainly hearsay, as I initially stated. Someone said it on a Prince facebook group and I wanted to ask people who might be more knowlegeable than me about the JW faith. That's all.

leecaldon said:

Yes, this is most certainly hearsay, as I initially stated. Someone said it on a Prince facebook group and I wanted to ask people who might be more knowlegeable than me about the JW faith. That's all.

It also drives me up a wall whenever people repeat what Van Jones said about P's philanthropy being forbidden by "his faith to divulge charitable works".

There is no JW edict that says that.

However, like many faiths, folks are encouraged to give from the heart without expecting a big pat on the back whenever they give cuz the reward is in knowing that you gave. Advertising that you gave isn't the purpose of philanthropy.

The anonymous donating and secrecy wasn't a JW thing, it was a P thing.

LBrent said:

It also drives me up a wall whenever people repeat what Van Jones said about P's philanthropy being forbidden by "his faith to divulge charitable works".

There is no JW edict that says that.

However, like many faiths, folks are encouraged to give from the heart without expecting a big pat on the back whenever they give cuz the reward is in knowing that you gave. Advertising that you gave isn't the purpose of philanthropy.

The anonymous donating and secrecy wasn't a JW thing, it was a P thing.

Jehovahs Witnesses are encouraged to give discreetly and not as the Pharasees who liked everyone to know what they were doing, JWs say to give with humility not for self glory, there are plenty of articals on this in their Watch Tower Magazines . Prince was practicing this scripture.

Based on this scripture:

Matthew 6:1-21New International Version (NIV)

Giving to the Needy

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

[Edited 1/31/17 0:18am]

JWs are encouraged to make a will in order to make things easier in their passing for their family - especially if children are involved so as to provide for them. It is up to the member if they wish to leave anything to the Watch Tower Society or not. It is neither forbidden to make a will or compulsary, but it is recommended. JWs also do not tithe.

gollygirl said:

LBrent said:

It also drives me up a wall whenever people repeat what Van Jones said about P's philanthropy being forbidden by "his faith to divulge charitable works".

There is no JW edict that says that.

However, like many faiths, folks are encouraged to give from the heart without expecting a big pat on the back whenever they give cuz the reward is in knowing that you gave. Advertising that you gave isn't the purpose of philanthropy.

The anonymous donating and secrecy wasn't a JW thing, it was a P thing.

Jehovahs Witnesses are encouraged to give discreetly and not as the Pharasees who liked everyone to know what they were doing, JWs say to give with humility not for self glory, there are plenty of articals on this in their Watch Tower Magazines . Prince was practicing this scripture.

Based on this scripture:

Matthew 6:1-21New International Version (NIV)

Giving to the Needy

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

[Edited 1/31/17 0:18am]

gollygirl said:

JWs are encouraged to make a will in order to make things easier in their passing for their family - especially if children are involved so as to provide for them. It is up to the member if they wish to leave anything to the Watch Tower Society or not. It is neither forbidden to make a will or compulsary, but it is recommended. JWs also do not tithe.

Thank you.

That's what I was trying to say, but for some reason I couldn't quite seem to articulate the way I wanted. Lol

TrivialPursuit said:

If Prince cared about his good standing w/ the kingdom hall, he wouldn't have been fuckin' women outside of marriage.

leecaldon said:

gollygirl said:

JWs are encouraged to make a will in order to make things easier in their passing for their family - especially if children are involved so as to provide for them. It is up to the member if they wish to leave anything to the Watch Tower Society or not. It is neither forbidden to make a will or compulsary, but it is recommended. JWs also do not tithe.

Thanks for the info.

margi said:

leecaldon said:

I've heard it suggested that the reason Prince didn't leave a will was because, as a Jehovah's Witness, to remain in good standing in the community, he would need to leave his inheritance to Witnesses. In not having a will, he could remain in good standing and his family would still inherit his estate.

I can't seem to find anything online about this. Can anyone shed some light?

Prince did not need to do a will.This is why he set up the LLC in 2014.The estate in court is nothing to do with his lifes work of music that belongs to the LLC.The beneficiaries of the LLC was determined by Prince and we may never know who they are.It is obviously not family but perhaps charities and projects Prince determined. These beneficiaries will receive an income stream from his music sales for the next 120 years due to the copyright laws determined by the setting up of the LLC. He was an excellent businessman and very clever. Why he left his family to squabble over the remaining pickings is only known by him.His music was all he really cared about. He wanted to control who he left that too and he did with a brilliant business move.

Now I'm properly confused. This is the first I've heard that the family will not be getting income from his music. Have I missed something significant here?

leecaldon said:

margi said:

leecaldon said: Prince did not need to do a will.This is why he set up the LLC in 2014.The estate in court is nothing to do with his lifes work of music that belongs to the LLC.The beneficiaries of the LLC was determined by Prince and we may never know who they are.It is obviously not family but perhaps charities and projects Prince determined. These beneficiaries will receive an income stream from his music sales for the next 120 years due to the copyright laws determined by the setting up of the LLC. He was an excellent businessman and very clever. Why he left his family to squabble over the remaining pickings is only known by him.His music was all he really cared about. He wanted to control who he left that too and he did with a brilliant business move.

Now I'm properly confused. This is the first I've heard that the family will not be getting income from his music. Have I missed something significant here?

This is not true.

P was the only beneficiary of his LLC.

It is in his Estate.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

leecaldon said:

Now I'm properly confused. This is the first I've heard that the family will not be getting income from his music. Have I missed something significant here?

This is not true.

P was the only beneficiary of his LLC.

It is in his Estate.

That's what I thought.

Also, a quick note to this subject - if anything, churches would encourage its members to have a will, and probably influence them to leave a vast majority of their estate to the church. Money, money, money. Even items can be sold off for money. Bank accounts can be transferred directly to a church's bank account.

I'm not saying churches do that, but if a church were to encourage a will, they could have an ulterior motive, depending on the organization, or the person's wealth at time of death.

TrivialPursuit said:

Also, a quick note to this subject - if anything, churches would encourage its members to have a will, and probably influence them to leave a vast majority of their estate to the church. Money, money, money. Even items can be sold off for money. Bank accounts can be transferred directly to a church's bank account.

I'm not saying churches do that, but if a church were to encourage a will, they could have an ulterior motive, depending on the organization, or the person's wealth at time of death.

Well, yes, that was sort of the point of this thread. In not having a will, he didn't snub the church.

leecaldon said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Also, a quick note to this subject - if anything, churches would encourage its members to have a will, and probably influence them to leave a vast majority of their estate to the church. Money, money, money. Even items can be sold off for money. Bank accounts can be transferred directly to a church's bank account.

I'm not saying churches do that, but if a church were to encourage a will, they could have an ulterior motive, depending on the organization, or the person's wealth at time of death.

Well, yes, that was sort of the point of this thread. In not having a will, he didn't snub the church.

No, the JWs encourage one to have a will to make provision for the family especially if the breadwinner dies so the family are not left in the lurch - they have had quite a few Watchtowers on it in the past - but yes they also make mention that leaving something to them might be nice for the "world wide work" as they put it if one desires to.

I am sure Prince gave plenty to the Watchtower Society when he was alive anyway.

I read somewhere one theory is that if he made a will then he would have to decide what happened to the back catalogue, if he left it to the JWs then those raunchy songs would never be released again - but this way, they can all be released and he will have no responsiblity for it. Kind of made sense to me.

And he doesnt seem to like his family much either, so he was not too fussed on that part I think?

leecaldon said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Also, a quick note to this subject - if anything, churches would encourage its members to have a will, and probably influence them to leave a vast majority of their estate to the church. Money, money, money. Even items can be sold off for money. Bank accounts can be transferred directly to a church's bank account.

I'm not saying churches do that, but if a church were to encourage a will, they could have an ulterior motive, depending on the organization, or the person's wealth at time of death.

Well, yes, that was sort of the point of this thread. In not having a will, he didn't snub the church.

I'm not sure how having a will, or not, would "snub the church". That's an odd statement, to me.

While churches might enjoy having everyone's possessions to pilfer through or sell for money (although what are material things worth once you take someone's soul), they certainly don't see it as a snub if they're not included in someone's final will and testament; no more than a business feels snubbed if their now-dead employee didn't leave money for a pizza party post-mortem.

TrivialPursuit said:

leecaldon said:

Well, yes, that was sort of the point of this thread. In not having a will, he didn't snub the church.

I'm not sure how having a will, or not, would "snub the church". That's an odd statement, to me.

While churches might enjoy having everyone's possessions to pilfer through or sell for money (although what are material things worth once you take someone's soul), they certainly don't see it as a snub if they're not included in someone's final will and testament; no more than a business feels snubbed if their now-dead employee didn't leave money for a pizza party post-mortem.

Religious organisations are well known for wanting the money of their flock, both in life and death. They will even pressure the old and vulnerable to change their wills. That's why it seemed like a reasonable hypothesis to me.

As I said, I know nothing of how the JW church works, which is why I was asking when I heard this theory. Much more plausible than any of the conspiracy stuff. But could still be wide of the mark.