If Prince got caught faking his death, can fans take legal action?

If it turns out Prince is alive and well, what kind of BS excuse can fans use to sue him? They bought to much of his albums paying tribute to his death? They cried their eyes out causing pain and suffering? They missed days of work?

Considering his body was cremated it's going to be difficult to bring him back from the dead.

a reply to: schuyler

Given that the body was cremated, it could be quite difficult to figure out whose ashes they were for certain.

It does not matter how a persons remains go into the afterlife, but it does matter when trying to prove that they are the one that took the journey, as opposed to some other person. I am however, in no way advocating for the conspiracy being discussed in this thread, because I have never seen or heard anything which would convince me of its being true, nor any significant reason why it could not be at least plausible.

Such a feat would, however, require a significant amount of preparation, planning, bribery in all likelihood, and the involvement of at least one conspirator, if not many more. I question the artists ability to pull that off, as a result of his own efforts at least. If he had faked his death, he would have paid for help. Fake passports, social security numbers, bank details, home address, he would have to have arranged for papers of all manner to be generated, a legend that would allow him to either get through a border, or acquire services under his new, assumed name. He would maybe have to grow a beard, change his hair, dial down the clothing to regular, maybe go full on bum in appearance, or live up a hill like a damned hermit... Put mildly, that would all be highly irregular and a total shocker.

But I would need proof before I even entertained the idea to any significant degree.

If Prince got caught faking his death, can fans take legal action?

I was actually asking myself the same, but in the case of Adolf Hitler. Just imagine... All those LP's straight in the fireplace

a reply to: Richsac89

Even though it would be quite ridiculous to do so I'm sure that there are many "fans" that would attempt to sue for millions of dollars in compensation for their "pain and suffering". Frivolous lawsuits have become commonplace in our society unfortunately.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: schuyler

Given that the body was cremated, it could be quite difficult to figure out whose ashes they were for certain.

OK. For the irony impaired, let me put this a little differently so there can be no doubt. Is there ANY evidence whatsoever that Prince faked his own death? Who makes this stuff up only to turn it into a conjecture that has no basis in reality at all? As far as I can tell, there's absolutely no reason to take this seriously.

a reply to: Richsac89

I think only those he might have financial obligations to could sue him and if his estate could not pay those obligations and if the point was to avoid those obligations. A person or business would have to have 'standing' to sue.

I do not see a 'class action suit for grief and mourning' making it through a court.

Depending on laws in the state of Minnesota, there could be tax or fraud laws. Depending on federal law there could be a tax or fraud law broken.

In regard to fans, it is very unlikely.

originally posted by: Richsac89
If it turns out Prince is alive and well, what kind of BS excuse can fans use to sue him? They bought to much of his albums paying tribute to his death? They cried their eyes out causing pain and suffering? They missed days of work?

Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's agree that if we catch him alive, a good lawyer will be our first call. There. Same with that Elvis.

a reply to: Richsac89

Why would you bother?

a reply to: Richsac89

Why would you bother?

originally posted by: XP100

originally posted by: Richsac89
If it turns out Prince is alive and well, what kind of BS excuse can fans use to sue him? They bought to much of his albums paying tribute to his death? They cried their eyes out causing pain and suffering? They missed days of work?

Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's agree that if we catch him alive, a good lawyer will be our first call. There. Same with that Elvis.

Elvis did come to mind, as a hypothetical. In that case, the only parties with standing to sue would be the state in which he resided in and /or the federal government for laws related to taxes and fraud. Fans, again, I believe would have no 'standing'.


I do not believe Elvis's estate has any umpaid debt.

originally posted by: Leonidas
a reply to: Richsac89

Why would you bother?

Many people mourned and grieved. I did so. It was a process. Sort of depends on how emotionally invested you were in the death. I have a good idea, that, legally, I would have no standing to sue. Others may attempt, therefore, in this hypothetical case, I believe others may 'bother' to, but not get very far.

Same as if Elvis showed up on CNN tomorrow to describe why he faked his death. He might face fraud or death tax problems. Fans of many, many years, may feel like they can sue, but I don;t think they can.


If you 'feel' you have standing to sue and and find an attorney that tells you have a shot, you can always try. Some foolish may even try Pro Se. This is for any reason. Case in point: the woman who was served coffee too hot by McDonald's. She felt she had standing, she found an attorney amd a jury found she was right..the coffee was much hotter than necessary to kill germs, much hotter than industry standard and she suffered severe burns. Lots of people laugh about that case, but it was, in actuality, not frivolous.

You never know, but in this case it appears doubtful fans could mount a successful case.

Anyone can bring a civil suit against anyone for anything. All you have to do is file.Could they win ? Depends. However , the US Federal government could. And I say COULD .And the greatest possibility in that would be they would win. Tax evasion , violations of Social Security regulations , etc. And I believe (will research late) there are Federal and State laws against a person faking their own death.

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: schuyler

Given that the body was cremated, it could be quite difficult to figure out whose ashes they were for certain.

OK. For the irony impaired, let me put this a little differently so there can be no doubt. Is there ANY evidence whatsoever that Prince faked his own death? Who makes this stuff up only to turn it into a conjecture that has no basis in reality at all? As far as I can tell, there's absolutely no reason to take this seriously.

Who said anyone was taking anything seriously anyway? OP posed a hypothetical question...no need to provide evidence of anything to just have a discussion, right? It's an interesting premise, and a welcome change away from the unrelenting Donald and Hillary nonsense. Would it hurt to just play along and hypothesize for once?

originally posted by: Richsac89
If it turns out Prince is alive and well, what kind of BS excuse can fans use to sue him? They bought to much of his albums paying tribute to his death? They cried their eyes out causing pain and suffering? They missed days of work?

If he was able to fake his own death, there is no way he could've kept a straight face through the entire autopsy and cremation. No way.

originally posted by: Richsac89
If it turns out Prince is alive and well, what kind of BS excuse can fans use to sue him? They bought to much of his albums paying tribute to his death? They cried their eyes out causing pain and suffering? They missed days of work?

Iam gonna go with "I lost my virginity paying tribute to his death", that should earn me a fair amount of money

But if they can sue (and win), based on their hurt feelings (because he is alive?) if it turns out he is still alive
Couldnt i sue those, telling me he is alive, for my hurt feelings, if it turns out he is still dead?

a reply to: XP100

You owe me one keyboard. Just blew Adult Beverage all over my laptop...

a reply to: Richsac89

Michael Jackson, Elvis, John Lennon....nobody can do anything.

a reply to: reldra

I think I read one time that faking your death is NOT illegal. As long as it doesn't involve anything that is illegal. So for example:

They find a guys car abandoned with bear tracks near by and his blood scattered around the camp site.

or

They find the guys car at a lake, find the canoe in the water upside down

Both are considered mysteries. You don't know if the person is dead or not. They're now considered "missing". But if the person doesn't show up anywhere within about a year, they're "presumed dead".

It happens all the time. And no one ever knows, how, or why. Some people want to be presumed dead and want to eventually come back and start a new life. Others are dead but the body just is never found. The bear ate it. ie: Timmothy Treadwell. Got ate by a Grizzly. But had he not told anyone where he was camping, perhaps they woudln't have every found any remains. They found only part of his skeleton. Everything was already eaten by scavengers.

a reply to: Leonidas