According to TMZ.com, Prince died without a Last Will and Testament. If true, this means that Prince died “intestate.”Oh, U Got the Look – stop judging. The majority of Americans age 55 to 64 don’t have wills. However, the majority of Americans aren’t worth Prince’s estimated $150 million. Who will inherit Prince’s Raspberry Beret and everything else?
Unfortunately, choosing not to act and failing to work with a lawyer to create an estate plan is essentially a choice to allow state law to dictate who will inherit your wealth.
Let’s Go Crazy and pretend that Prince had been a Florida resident when he died. Because he was not married and he had no living children (his one son died soon after he was born), his wealth would be inherited by his nearest blood relatives. His parents predeceased him, so his siblings would inherit.
Prince had eight siblings, not 1999. One is a full sister, meaning Prince and Tyka share the same mother and father. The other seven siblings are half-siblings, meaning Prince shared one parent with these siblings.
Under Florida law, half-siblings inherit half as much as a full-sibling. This means that Tyka will inherit 22 percent of Prince’s estate and the other siblings will inherit 11 percent each. That is a lot of Diamonds and Pearls plus a Little Red Corvette.
To add more complexity, two of Prince’s siblings have predeceased him. Assuming each has surviving children, that sibling’s children (Prince’s nieces and nephews) would split the parent’s share.
Of course, the Thieves in the Temple (a.k.a. the IRS) will want 40 percent of every dollar over $5.45 million before Prince’s siblings get a dime. You’re not Delirious – this means that the IRS will get almost three times as much as Prince’s sister Tyka!
No wonder those doves are crying.