The estate of Prince finally valued at $156.4 million

The estate of Prince has been given a final valuation of $156.4 million, bringing to an end a gruelling six-year legal battle. 

As reported by The Minneapolis Star Tribune, the late pop star’s estate has been valued at $156.4 million by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the estate’s administrator Comerica Bank & Trust. The figure has also been accepted by the artist’s heirs.

The new valuation massively dwarfs Comerica’s earlier appraisal of $82.3 million. The IRS came closer in 2020 when they valued the estate at $163.2 million.

Legal trouble ensued after Prince died in 2016 as he didn’t leave a will behind. Since then, lawyers and consultants have been paid millions of dollars to administer and distribute his estate.

Two of his six sibling heirs, Alfred Jackson and John R. Nelson, have died in the meantime, while two others are now in their 80s.

“It has been a long six years,” L. Londell McMillan, an attorney for three of Prince’s siblings, said at a hearing in Carver County District Court on Friday, January 14th.

The final valuation means that Prince’s estate will now be almost evenly divided between Primary Wave, a New York music company, and the three oldest of his six heirs or their families.

The IRS dropped a $6.4 million “accuracy-related penalty” it had placed on the star’s estate. The Minnesota Department of Revenue, which agreed on the estate’s valuation, likewise dropped an accuracy penalty, according to the filing.

Taxes will remain a costly issue for Prince’s estate. Just over $5 million of his estate will be exempted from taxes under federal law, but after that the tax rate goes up to 40%. In Minnesota, the first $3 million is tax-exempt, but after that, much of his estate will likely be taxed at 16%.

The new agreement means a tax trial set for March has been now been cancelled: in 2020, Comerica sued the IRS in U.S. Tax Court, stating that the agency’s calculations of the estate’s value were riddled with errors.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.