More than eight years after his passing, and some two years following the extensive legal battle over his estate appeared to come to an end, a lawsuit over control of half of Prince‘s estate is heading to court.
During a protracted 18-month litigation-free period for the estate, in January former Prince attorney L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer Jr., who together represented three of the singer’s six sibling heirs, filed a lawsuit against four members of Prince’s family — including half-sister Sharon Nelson, who they previously represented in the estate battle — over control of an LLC that was established in 2022 to handle the 50 percent stake it owned in Prince’s estate.
On Friday (7.05,) a Delaware judge – where the McMillan and Spicer lawsuit was filed – refused the heirs’ efforts to dismiss the lawsuit, presaging yet another legal battle over Prince’s estate.
According to the lawsuit, McMillan and Spicer argued that Sharon Nelson attempted to remove the pair from their managerial duties in the 2022 formed Prince Legacy LLC, after the IRS came to a $156 million valuation on the superstar singer/songwriter’s estate, a ruling that was expected to complete the case. “It has been a long six years,” McMillan said at the time of the 2022 decision.
However, the lawsuit claims that Nelson regretted the terms of and subsequently attempted to seize hold of the LCC by amending the agreement to remove McMillan and Spicer as its managers. According to Friday’s decision, the judge decided that Sharon did not have the authority to amend the LLC without authorization, the Associated Press reports.
Other defendants in the McMillan and Spicer lawsuit include half-sister Norrine Nelson, Prince’s niece Breanna Nelson and his nephew Allen Nelson. The lawsuit also addressed Sharon Nelson’s efforts to assert her authority over Prince’s Paisley Park residence-turned-museum, where she “sought (unsuccessfully) to replace the entire staff of Paisley Park with individuals of her choosing and take charge of Paisley Park.”
The lawsuit applies to approximately 50% share in the Prince estate, as three of the heirs sold their stakes to music management group Primary Wave soon after Prince’s death. Primary Wave’s portion of the estate is not involved in the latest round of litigation.
Prince died in April 2016 without a will, and his estate was divided up equally among his six siblings and half-siblings, two of whom have died over the course of the seemingly never-ending legal fight.
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: penner