MINNEAPOLIS _ The annual tributes to the late musician Prince have come and gone, but the battle over his mammoth, complicated estate continues in a rural courtroom in Chaska, Minn.
Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide took testimony for several hours Wednesday about some nettlesome issues.
The judge said he'd like to formally declare the heirs to Prince's estate _ valued at $100 million to $300 million before taxes. The current list of court-determined heirs are Prince's sister and five half-siblings.
But a formal declaration would give other potential heirs just a year to present credible claims that they also should be included. Some who Eide has already ruled ineligible objected to making a final heirship determination, noting that their appeals of his rulings are pending at the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Prince died in April 2016 from an accidental overdose of opioid painkillers. No will has been found, so it's up to Eide to determine how to divide the estate.
In another matter, Brianna Nelson, a niece of Prince, claimed that the estate's personal representative, Comerica Bank, was failing to honor a consulting contract she had to provide memorabilia to the Paisley Park museum. She said she was supposed to get $25,000 up front and $25,000 a year for an undermined number of years.
Lawyers for L. Londell McMillan, a consultant to the estate, asked the judge to quash subpoenas that Comerica sought for information about first Prince tribute concert, as well as and any correspondence he had with Prince dating to the 1990s.
McMillan remains an adviser to three of the six designated heirs, who want him to have information pertaining to a licensing agreement worth at least $2 million. Comerica, meanwhile, asked Eide to suppress the release of what it deems confidential information to McMillan, noting that it is investigating allegations that he mishandled the tribute concert.
Eide took the issues under advisement.
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