Just how much the public ultimately finds out about Prince's estate will be decided by a Carver County judge after attorneys for news organizations and potential heirs argued Thursday about media access in the ongoing probate case.
Fourteen lawyers, four reporters and just one purported heir gathered Thursday at the county courthouse in Chaska in what turned out to be a much quieter hearing than previous sessions in the case, which will determine who stands to inherit the late megastar's multimillion-dollar estate.
A group of media organizations, including the Star Tribune, is pushing for increased access to court hearings and documents, including allowing audiovisual equipment and sketch artists in the courtroom and the unsealing of affidavits of people claiming to be Prince's children.
"It's our position that everything that happens in this court and everything that's filed in this case should be public," said Leita Walker, the attorney representing the media organizations.
Attorneys for Bremer Trust, the special administrator overseeing the estate, countered there are privacy concerns that should prevent media access in some cases. The potential heirs have "sensitive personal histories" they may want kept private, said attorney Doug Peterson.
Additionally, there are ongoing business deals that Bremer wants to keep private as it works to maximize the estate's value and collect enough for a looming, multimillion-dollar tax bill.
Speaking in support of Bremer's argument, entertainment attorney Ken Abdo, who's representing three of Prince's half-siblings, noted that business transactions would be private if the heirs didn't need to be consulted on them. Keeping transactions private now avoids opportunities for "celebrity business voyeurism," he said.
Walker countered that estate transactions would have been private only if Prince were still alive and negotiating them himself.