A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Prince’s family members has been quietly dismissed in recent months, suggesting family members have reached settlements with defendants including the Minnesota doctor who saw Prince in the weeks before his death and the Illinois hospital that treated him for an opioid overdose seven days before he died.
The Associated Press reports the dismissals largely close one legal chapter in the superstar’s legacy, even as efforts drag on to value and dispose of his estate once pegged at around $200 million.
Prince was 57 when he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016, without leaving a will. No one was criminally charged in his death and the source of the counterfeit pills that killed him remains unknown.
Prince’s heirs filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a slew of defendants in April 2018, alleging they had the duty and opportunity to diagnose and treat Prince’s addiction and prevent his death, but failed to do so.
Meanwhile, Prince’s siblings are still waiting to learn how much his estate is worth. Court filings several months after Prince’s death suggested the estate was worth around $200 million before taxes. More recent filings suggest the estate and Internal Revenue Service have not yet agreed on its value.
Protracted litigation isn’t unusual for big estates, even when there is a will. The fight between pop superstar Michael Jackson’s estate and the IRS over valuing his estate continues in federal tax court, even though he died in 2009.
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