Prince Estate Has Spent $2.3 Million on Legal Fees in Just 3 Months

Sorting through the Purple One’s potential heirs, planning a museum and dealing with copyright litigation have led to jaw-dropping bills

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Administering the estate of deceased music legend Prince is expensive business — especially on the legal front.

Handling the various legal issues involving Prince’s estate has cost at least $2.3 million since the musician’s death in April, according to documents obtained by TheWrap.

Bremer Trust, which acts as the special administrator for the estate, filed papers in October asking the court to approve payment “of fees and costs for the Special Administrator and its attorneys for their work administering the Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson for the three-month period of July 1, 2016 through September 30, 2016.”

The bills for that three-month period work out to a jaw-dropping $2.3 million, according to the document.

The bulk of the bill — $1.8 million in change — is for work done by Stinson Leonard Street, which represents Bremer in the administration of the estate. Bremer itself says that it has racked up more than $300,000 in bills in the three-month period.

Smaller amounts are earmarked for an attorney who worked for Prince in copyright litigation matters prior to his April death.

Legal fees were also racked as Bremer and its lawyers “continued to evaluate and address numerous heirship issues” and planning to turn Prince’s Paisley Park residence into a museum.

Entertainment issues such as reviewing licensing requests also factored into the billable hours, as did litigation, and claims, such as the claim by Rodney Herachio Dixon, who claimed that he owned Prince’s music catalog and vault due to a “verbal and implied agreement” between Dixon and the musician.

“[T]he administration of this Estate is extraordinarily complex and requires devoted effort from the Special Administrator and its attorneys,” Bremer’s request reads. “Their work spans multiple legal and business areas including typical estate administration, entertainment, intellectual property,and real estate. Moreover, this administration became even more complex as the Special Administrator worked to include and address the input of potential heirs in various maters.”

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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