Lawyer: Dividing Prince estate may be difficult

A top Minnesota probate lawyer says resolving Prince’s estate may get extremely complicated if his siblings and half-siblings can’t agree on how to do it.

Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, filed court documents Tuesday saying she knew of no will and asked the court to appoint a corporate trust company to oversee his estate.

Nelson is Prince’s only full sibling. Her court papers list five half-siblings, who also stand to share in the estate.

Prince died Thursday at age 57. An autopsy was done last week but results aren’t expected to be released for weeks.

Patterson Weaver is an attorney in Colorado Springs who specializes in estate planning.

“Just like everyone else, folks that are rich don’t want to think that far ahead. They want to think they are always going to be there and it’s never going to be a problem. There is always tomorrow,” said Weaver.

He said whether there are millions up for grabs or a few thousand, things can get messy for family members if their loved one didn’t leave a will.

“The fact is, when we’re dealing with that much money, and what that means to people’s lives,” said Weaver, “unfortunately, family members, as loving as they can be, they are also greedy.”

Weaver said the average age of someone who starts thinking about estate planning is around 50 years old but people in their 20s and 30s should be planning too.

Part of an estate plan often includes a living will and medical power of attorney. That means if you have a medical emergency and can’t make decisions, you’ll have already appointed someone you trust to make decisions for you.

“A will is part of it, and it’s a big part of an estate plan, but there are other parts of the plan that really matter,” said Weaver.