A Carver County judge has authorized the special administrator overseeing Prince's estate to examine confidential information in the files of a Minneapolis law firm that handled the late megastar's second divorce, stating that they might contain relevant information about his potential heirs.
The Minneapolis law firm Henson & Efron represented Prince in his divorce from Manuela Testolini. The petition was filed in Hennepin County in 2006, and the divorce decree was entered in 2007. There were a number of additional filings through August 2010 — including a judgment of $276,339 — but the contents of the files were sealed by a court order.
The Star Tribune filed a motion June 16 seeking to unseal the files. A hearing on the motion has been set for Aug. 4.
Henson & Efron did not respond immediately Wednesday to a request for comment.
Court filings in Prince's estate say that the law firm wants to honor its professional obligations to its late client, "particularly with regard to information protected by the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine which was generated and acquired during the decedent's lifetime."
It said that the firm was not in a position to unilaterally waive the privilege.
Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide wrote that he agrees with Bremer Trust, the special administrator of the estate, that it is in Prince's and his estate's interest for Henson & Efron to share whatever information the law firm has.
Eide noted that Bremer Trust plans to handle the information in a way that preserves the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine protections afforded to Prince during his lifetime.
Eide also said that if Bremer Trust finds it "reasonable and necessary" to waive the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine protections, it should first get his permission to do so, with prior notification to Henson & Efron, so the firm has a chance to respond.
Dan Browning • 612-673-4493
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