Prince’s estate is to be overseen by Comercia Bank and Trust, a Minneapolis judge has ruled.
The appointment follows a court hearing last week to decide who will act as permanent administrator to the Prince estate, which is reported to be worth around $200 million.
In a court order, Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide ruled that Comerica will be named corporate personal representative of the estate, replacing temporary administrator Bremer Trust. Comercia will assume its duties from February 1.
The judge also ruled against the appointment of a ‘co-personal representative’ – an intermediary between Prince’s siblings (the likely heirs) and Comercia.
Entertainment lawyer L. Londell McMillan and CNN commentator Anthony ‘Van’ Jones had both requested to serve in the role. However, Edie denied both request as the siblings were said to be fiercely divided on who should be appointed.
“The heirs are all strong advocates of their positions on how the estate should be managed, and adding another divisive element will cause additional expense and delay in these proceedings,” he wrote.
Earlier this month, Irving Azoff's Global Music Rights (GMR) signed a worldwide deal to represent Prince's catalogue. Prince left ASCAP in 2014, seeking an alternative to traditional public performance licensing practices and his Estate, represented by Bremer Trust, their music industry advisors, Charles Koppelman and Londell McMillan, and attorney Jason Boyarski, concluded that GMR’s philosophy was most consistent with Prince’s values.
In November 2016, Universal Music Publishing Group was selected as worldwide publisher for Prince’s catalogue of songs. The agreement with the Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson will see UMPG take responsibility for servicing and administering Prince’s catalogue, working closely with Prince’s estate to find new outlets for his music.
UMPG previously served as Prince’s publisher from 2001 to 2014.
