Judge rules to unseal Prince's divorce records

Details of Prince's 2006 divorce will be made public, despite objections from his ex-wife and the special administrator overseeing his estate.

"The right of access to civil court documents is considered 'fundamental to a democratic state,'?" Hennepin County District Judge Thomas Fraser wrote in a 17-page order unsealing the court file, which was published Monday.

Divorce files are generally public, though judges often will agree to seal them if both parties to the case agree and no one else objects. The Star Tribune moved to unseal the files from Prince's divorce from Manuela Testolini after the musician's accidental death from the painkiller fentanyl on April 21.

Prince married Testolini in 2001; they divorced five years later. At the time of his death, Prince apparently did not have a will, leaving the state to determine how his estate will be divided among his heirs.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/judge-rules-to-unseal-prince-s-divorce-records/390211731/