Estate Planning Lessons from Prince: When There’s No Plan

In law school, we learned legal principles by examining real cases and hypotheticals. We saw how the law works through the lens of what happens when things go wrong. In estate planning these cases often read like a soap opera script, with secret families, coerced will changes, hidden assets, and murder for money. But most estate problems don’t arise from dramatic circumstances. They come from something much simpler: no plan at all.

One of the most well-known examples is the estate of Prince. In 2016, the death of pop-rock icon Prince shocked the music world. His lack of any estate plan soon shocked the legal world, as well.

With no will, trust, or any clear expression of his wishes, his $200+ million estate went to probate. The court was left to apply the state’s default rules for inheritance. When you die without a plan, the court doesn’t try to guess what you would have wanted. It applies a one-size-fits-all set of default rules. And as anyone who has ever bought a ‘one-size-fits-all’ item knows, it rarely fits anyone very well.

What followed were six years of litigation, administrative complications, and public disputes among family members. Most of this could have been avoided with basic estate planning.

What Would a Plan Have Changed?

If Prince had created even a simple estate plan, it would have allowed him to:

• Decide who would receive his assets.
• Appoint someone he trusted to manage his estate.
• Provide clear instructions for handling his music rights and business interests.
• Avoid unnecessary conflict among family members.
• Significantly reduce the time and cost of administration.

Instead, those decisions were made by statute and enforced by the courts.

And Why Should I Care?

This situation is not unique to celebrities. If you don’t create an estate plan to memorialize your wishes, state law determines who receives your assets, when, and how.

In Idaho, those laws are based on legal family relationships.

If someone is married, their spouse may receive all of their estate. If there is no surviving spouse, the estate typically passes to their children. And if those children are minors, someone may need to be appointed to manage their funds until they reach adulthood. Then, at eighteen, they would receive their entire inheritance.

If you were making a plan yourself, you might make those same choices. But the law’s one-size-fits-all rules tend to fit poorly in less traditional family situations. Your wishes for a blended family, unmarried partner, or estranged relative often don’t align with how the default rules actually work.

Additionally, assets may need to go through probate before they can be distributed, which adds time, cost, and administrative complexity.

The Bottom Line

Estate planning gives you control. It’s about making decisions now, so your wishes are clear, your family has direction, and the transition is as smooth as possible.

Without a plan, the law steps in and makes those decisions for you.

A Practical First Step

If you have been putting off estate planning, the first step is simply to start the conversation.Understanding your options and putting even a basic plan in place can make a significant difference for your family in the future.

-Jane Powell