MINNEAPOLIS — Prince’s sister says the superstar musician had no known will, and she filed paperwork Tuesday asking a Minneapolis court to appoint a special administrator to oversee his estate.
Tyka Nelson, Prince’s only surviving full sibling, said immediate action was necessary to manage Prince’s business interests following his death last week. The size of his fortune is unclear, though he made hundreds of millions of dollars for record companies, concert venues, and others during his career and his estate included about $27 million in property.
Nelson asked that Bremer Trust, a corporate trust company, be named administrator of the estate. Court documents say Bremer Bank provided services to Prince for many years.
The pop star died Thursday at his home in suburban Minneapolis. An outpouring of grief and nostalgia prompted fans to buy 2.3 million of his songs in three days.
Prince owned a dozen properties in and around his Paisley Park complex, mostly rural pieces of land and some houses for family members. Records show the properties were worth about $27 million in 2016.
Estimates of how much licensing his personal brand will bring in after death reach to the purple clouds.
‘‘He was as big as they get,’’ said Mark Roesler, chief executive of CMG Worldwide, which handles licensing for the estates of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and others. Roesler estimates Prince’s post-mortem earnings will match those of top-earning dead celebrities like Elvis Presley, whose estate made $55 million in 2015, according to Forbes magazine.
If Prince filed a will or created a trust, heirs would be known. But no such documents have turned up. Under Minnesota law, a person can file a will with a probate court in secret. If Prince did so, the fact that one exists would become public once a death certificate is filed, but the medical examiner has not yet issued one for Prince.
L. Londell McMillan, a longtime lawyer and former manager of the superstar, declined to comment Monday about whether the entertainer had a will or any other particulars regarding his estate, but added: ‘‘I want to make sure his legacy is respected and protected no matter what role I play.’’
Several other attorneys who have done work for Prince — including Alan Eidsness, who handled his 2006 divorce from Manuela Testolini Nelson — said they were not handling his estate.
Wealthy people usually create trusts to avoid the public spectacle of probate court, and it’s probable Prince did so, said Irwin Feinberg, a Los Angeles trust and probate lawyer.
Prince wasn’t married and had no known living children. Nelson is his only full sibling, though he has five half-siblings (two other half-siblings have died) who could share in his estate if he has no will.
The AP did not find liens or mortgages on any of his properties, which range from 160 acres of grassland to a three-bedroom bungalow in Minneapolis that is home to his half-brother, Omarr Baker.
Prince sold over 100 million albums, according to Warner Music Group. Pollstar, a concert industry magazine, said that in the years his tours topped the charts — 10 years over four decades — the tours raked in $225 million in ticket sales.
