Music icon Prince died without apparently leaving a will or estate plan. And while he was an entertainment pioneer and cultural trend-setter, in estate planning, he was surprisingly average,
Forbes.com explains.
LexisNexis reports that 55% of American adults don’t have a will. The numbers for minorities – 68% of black adults, 73% of Hispanics – are even higher. A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey even found that 30% of people with wealth greater than $500,000 don’t have a will.
“Why are the numbers so high? There are so many reasons. We don’t like to think about the fact that we’re going to die, someday,” Forbes.com Contributor Jean Chatzky notes. “We actually don’t think we’re going to die (ahh, optimism). We’ll do it tomorrow. Or next week. Or the next time we travel. And then we don’t.”
Forbes.com offers 3 reasons you should have a will and estate plan:
- Because you care about your stuff. “No matter how much or how little stuff you have, chances are you care about it at least enough to want some say over what happens to it if something happens to you,” Chatzky notes. “You may also want to choose who will be in charge of making sure your jewelry/pottery collection/first editions make it into the right hands. That person is your executor. A will allows you to name one.”
- Because there are causes you want to support. You can use a will to guarantee that at least some of your money and assets will flow to causes you believe in, whether it be charities, religious, political or artistic causes.
- Because it’s neither expensive nor complicated. “The easiest way to get a will these days is to use an online resource like WillMaker (you can find the software for $39.99), or go through Nolo.com or LegalZoom.com, where prices will range from $34 to $69. It’s fine to go this route as long as your financial life isn’t complicated – and you’re not looking to cut someone out of your will (for anything you think will be contested, go to a lawyer). Just make sure to have it properly witnessed when you sign it.”
Meanwhile, Prince's estate will most likely go to his only sister if the music icon, who died Thursday at age 57, did not leave a will.
Under Minnesota law, Tyka Nelson, 55, will receive Prince's estate as his closest living relative,
The Daily Mail reports.
The actual value of Prince's estate remains to be determined. His net worth was approximately $300 million, the Mail reports, and his music catalog is estimated by a former manager at more than $500 million.
He also left a trove of unrecorded music in a secret vault that could produce studio albums every year for the next century, the
New York Daily News reports.
Warner Music Group, which owns Warner Bros. Records, owns half of the rights to Prince’s music recorded between 1978 and 1996, according to that report.
Last year, Prince signed a deal to stream all his music on Tidal, the music service owned by hip-hop mogul Jay Z. He also owned part of the company,
The Wall Street Journal reports.
Tyka and her late brother's parents, John Nelson and Mattie Shaw, are both dead, according to the Mail.
Prince's other closest relatives are three half-sisters and four half-brothers.
His father, John, had three daughters and two sons from his marriage to Vivian Nelson after his divorce from Shaw, according to the Mail. A son and daughter each has died.
Prince's mother, Mattie, later remarried and gave birth to two sons.
According to Minnesota law, if an unmarried person with no children dies without a will, the parents, grandparents and siblings would inherit their wealth.
That law, however, can be contested in court under certain circumstances, the Mail reports.
(Newsmax staff reporter Todd Beamon contributed to this story).
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