DOVER, Del. A Delaware judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former business advisers to the late pop music icon Prince against two of his brothers and other heirs in a dispute over his assets.
The judge also agreed Friday with plaintiffs L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer Jr. that an agreement purporting to replace them as trustees of a limited liability company established by three brothers was invalid.
Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016. He had no will, and his six siblings inherited equal interests in the property.
Three of them ceded their combined 50% stake to Prince Legacy LLC. They also granted McMillan and Spicer each a 10% interest in Prince Legacy, along with broad and exclusive management authority.
A sister, Sharon Nelson, later regretted the decision and led an effort to remove McMillan and Spicer as managing members by changing the LLC agreement.
Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick ruled that the terms of the initial LLC agreement were unambiguous and that they prohibited the defendants’ attempts to change it. She said the agreement remains in effect and McMillan and Spicer remain as managing members.
“As a matter of contract law, this is the only reasonable interpretation,” the judge wrote.
McCormick also ruled that the plaintiffs can allege that the defendants violated the LLC agreement by acting without authority to amend it and remove McMillan and Spicer.
The lawsuit stems from disagreements involving Tyka Nelson, Prince’s sister, and five half-siblings: Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson.
Tyka, Omarr and Alfred, the youngest three, sold their interest to a music publishing company called Primary Wave Music, LLC, which later ceded their interest to an affiliate, Prince OAT Holdings LLC. Alfred is already dead.
The oldest siblings, Sharon, Norrine and John, assigned 20% of their collective interests to McMillan and Spicer before John died in 2021. Their interests passed to a trust overseen by Breanna Nelson, Allen Nelson and Johnny Nicholas Nelson Torres as co- curators. Breanna and Allen are named as defendants in the lawsuit along with Sharon and Norrine, while Nelson Torres sided with the plaintiffs.
The suit alleges, among other things, that Sharon improperly tried to insert herself into management decisions and once demanded that the entire staff at the Paisley Park Museum in Minnesota be replaced. She also accused McMillan and Spicer of fraud and attempted to sell their interests in Prince Legacy without the necessary consent of the other members.
The lawsuit is part of a long and complicated legal battle that involves both the size and beneficiaries of Prince’s estate. In 2022, nearly six years after his death, the IRS and the estate administrator agreed to end a legal battle and value the estate at about $156 million.
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