Texas Music Lawyer Tamera Bennett Interviewed On Prince Estate Issues
Dallas copyright and music attorney Tamera H. Bennett was interviewed today by KRLD Radio News Anchor Mitch Carr regarding what happens now to the assets in Prince's estate.
The death of music icon Prince shook the music world . . . but it's also causing headlines in the legal world. Prince's sister Teeka Nelson has gone to court to ask that someone be named to take over her brother's multimillion-dollar estate . . . and says there is NO WILL.
Click the arrow below to hear Mitch Carr and Tamera Bennett's conversation recorded on April 27, 2016.
Transcript of interview with Texas Music Lawyer Tamera Bennett on Prince Estate:
Mitch Carr -- The death of music icon Prince shook the music world . . . but it's also causing headlines in the legal world. Prince's sister Tyka Nelson has gone to court to ask that someone be named to take over her brother's multimillion-dollar estate . . . and says there is NO WILL.
Tamera Bennett -- So two different things were talking about. Dying intestate means he died without a will.
Mitch Carr -- Okay.
Tamera Bennett -- So he didn't have a written document saying this is how I wish for my assets to be disbursed upon my death. So he dies intestate which means the state of Minnesota, just like every other state, has statutes that say who will get what upon his death. It will go to his siblings. And, under Minnesota law his half-siblings are treated as equal to his -- I believe he has one sister who is a full sibling.
Mitch Carr -- Right. I think what's important here is this can be a life lesson for all of us.
Tamera Bennett -- It sure can. Because we want to -- I think most of us want to control what happens to what we own whether it be small or large-- at the end of the day. And, even more than that do we really want to put our family into a position of having to figure out our wishes? And, sometimes these kind of disputes can not be fun. So, I'm hopeful that their family will not have a lot of disputes. But, they might. We've seen it with other estates as they've passed away -- Ray Charles, James Brown. And, in those cases they actually did do a plan.
Mitch Carr -- The fact that there can be fights either way, what does that tell us about how we should do our estate plan? How can we draw something up that won't end up in a legal battle?
Tamera Bennett -- There's nothing that's ever foolproof because it depends on the people who are left.
Mitch Carr -- Alright.
Tamera Bennett -- So, one of the recommendations we often have for people is to spell out why you're leaving them what you're leaving them. And, you don't fully disinherit people.
Mitch Carr -- The bottom line here from a legal aspect is do what you can but nothing's foolproof.
Tamera Bennett -- Exactly right and I think what's interesting partly about Prince is that there are some assets that he has that are very valuable that under Minnesota law it's going to be difficult to figure out who gets them. And one one of that is his right of publicity. So his name and likeness is obviously very valuable. In Texas we actually have a statute that says if -- pretty much -- if you're a famous person and you take value from your name or your likeness or you license that, for fifty years after your death, your heirs can benefit and control how your name and likeness is used. Minnesota doesn't have that law saying that it's inherited.
Mitch Carr -- It's unclear how much Prince's estate is worth. But during his career, he made hundreds of millions of dollars for record companies, concert venues and others . . . and he owned $27 million in property near Minneapolis.
Follow Tamera on Twitter @tamerabennett and Mitch on Twitter @mitchcarrnews.
The clip is used by permission of KRLD-CBS Dallas.
