Carver County judge decides not to appoint a co-executor for Prince's estate

With Prince's likely heirs split over who should be named a co-executor of the megastar's multimillion dollar estate, the Carver County District Court judge overseeing the estate made a Solomon-like decision by not siding with either side.

Carver County judge Kevin Eide was left to decide whether to appoint either CNN political commentator and attorney Van Jones or New York entertainment attorney L. Londell McMillan as co-executor of the estate.

With Prince's siblings and presumptive heirs divided over who should be appointed, the judge decided to appoint no one, at least for now. Instead, Comerica Bank & Trust, the newly appointed special administrator, will be charged with keeping the likely heirs informed during the process so that a separate co-executor isn't needed.

In his order issued Friday and published online Tuesday, Eide noted that neither McMillan or Jones had the unanimous vote of the likely heirs. Eide wrote that he didn't want to add another divisive element to the case that would cause additional expenses and delays.

Eide said Comerica likely would be in a better position to solely manage the estate than Bremer Trust, which served as a temporary special administrator after Prince died April 21 of an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. Prince left no will. Bremer Trust wasn't interested in helping manage the estate once its term expired Jan. 31.

Bremer "walked into personal and corporate mayhem" because Prince's personal and business affairs were in disarray, a criminal investigation was being undertaken, assets and records were voluminous and scattered, and numerous monetary and heirship claims were about to cascade upon them, the judge said. "Hopefully," he said, "communication with the heirs can be achieved more easily at this time."

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788