News Retirement
Prince Left Behind $156 Million. His Family Waited Nearly Six Years to Get It.
The same court process that swallowed his estate is waiting for most families too, even the ones with a will. Here’s the one asset you can put in your children’s hands yourself, and how to do it legally under IRS rules.
When Prince died in April 2016, he didn’t leave a will. So a court took over.
Lawyers. Appraisers. A fight with the IRS over what everything was worth. His estate’s final value, $156.4 million, wasn’t agreed until January 2022. Nearly six years later.1
The lawyers and consultants who ran it were paid tens of millions along the way.1
Why your will won’t keep your family out of court
You’re not Prince. And maybe you’ve already done the responsible thing and written a will.
But a will is just a set of instructions for the judge. Anything in your name alone, with no named beneficiary, co-owner or trust, still goes through the same court process. It’s called probate.
A will tells the court what to do. It doesn’t keep your family out of court or stop the fees.
What probate costs a normal family
- It’s public. Anyone can look up what you owned, and who got it.
- It’s slow. Often a year or longer. Your kids wait the whole time.
- It’s expensive. In California, the fees are set by law. On a $500,000 estate: $13,000 to the attorney, $13,000 to the executor. $26,000 out of what you meant for your kids.2
- Your debts don’t lower it. Still a mortgage on the house? The fee is figured on the full value anyway.2
You spent a lifetime building something for them. Then a judge decides when they get it, and the lawyers get paid first.
The inheritance that never goes to court
There’s one thing you can take out of this process completely: physical gold you give your kids while you’re still here. Real coins and bars, not a gold fund or a gold stock.
And here’s the part almost nobody’s advisor mentions: you can buy physical gold with the retirement savings you already have.
- In an IRA? You can move part of it into a gold IRA today.
- In a 401(k) or TSP? You can do it once you’re 59½ or have left that job.
Your money stays in a retirement account. It just holds real gold instead of stocks.
Done right, there’s no tax and no penalty on the move.3 Done wrong, there can be both. Our Quiet Wealth Playbook shows you the right way.
How to get gold to your kids
There are two ways:
1. Hand it to them yourself. Take delivery of your coins and bars from your gold IRA in retirement, or buy them with cash, and give them to your children while you’re still here. It’s not in a bank, so there’s nothing to release or retitle. Once it’s theirs, it isn’t part of your estate.3, 4
2. Or name a beneficiary. Your gold IRA goes straight to the person you name. No court. No waiting. No lawyer taking a cut.
- You decide who gets it, and when. Not a judge, a year after you’re gone.
- You can split it exactly. You can’t cut a house in three. You can divide gold evenly between three kids.
- You get to be there. Most inheritances arrive as a letter from a lawyer. This one you can put in their hands, and watch their face.
Our free Quiet Wealth Playbook shows you, step by step, how to move part of your retirement into physical gold without triggering taxes or penalties, and how to hand it to your kids the right way.
Yes, Send Me My FREE Quiet Wealth Playbook →Why families choose gold for what they leave behind
If the market crashes the year your kids inherit, a stock portfolio could reach them worth about half what you planned. In the five biggest stock market crashes since 1970, gold held up far better than stocks.
Stocks vs. Gold in the 5 Biggest Crashes Since 1970
Price change from the stock market’s peak to its bottom
And over the long run, gold has beaten stocks
Crashes aren’t the whole story. Since the year 2000, gold has outgained the stock market, even counting every dividend stocks paid.
Gold vs. Stocks Since 2000
Total change, end of 1999 to Oct 13, 2026
$100,000 in 2000 is now about $1.44 million in gold, vs. $866,000 in the S&P 500.
Past results don’t guarantee future ones.5 But when you’re choosing what your kids will inherit, it’s worth knowing how each asset holds up over the long run.
Yes, Send Me My FREE Quiet Wealth Playbook →Why you shouldn’t wait
Only 24% of Americans even have a will.6 Most of the ones who do think that settles it.
A will tells the court what to do. It doesn’t keep your family out of court.
A gift you meant to make, but didn’t, goes to court with everything else. The plan only works if it’s in place before it’s needed.
Get the free Quiet Wealth Playbook
- Which gold coins and bars you can own outright, with no bank or broker in the middle
- How to hand gold to your children the right way, and the mistakes that can cost them
- The beneficiary step that keeps a gold IRA out of probate
- How to buy and store physical gold the right way
- How to move retirement savings into physical gold under IRS rules, tax-deferred and penalty-free3
It’s free. Enter your details and it’s sent straight to your inbox.
Yes, Send Me My FREE Quiet Wealth Playbook →P.S. A will tells the court what to do. It doesn’t keep your family out of court. The free Quiet Wealth Playbook shows you how to move part of your retirement into physical gold without triggering taxes or penalties, and how it can reach your kids without a judge. Get your free copy here.
