Prince's sister says the superstar musician had no known will and has filed paperwork asking a Minneapolis court appoint a special administrator to oversee his estate.
Tyka Nelson, Prince's only surviving full sibling, said in the court filing on Tuesday that immediate action was necessary to manage Prince's business interests following his death last week.
Ms Nelson presented court documents listing her brother's six siblings or half-siblings as heirs to a legacy estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
The size of Prince's fortune is unclear, though he made hundreds of millions of dollars for record companies, concert venues and others during his career and his estate included about $US27 million ($A35 million) in property.
The artist sold over 100 million albums on his lifetime, according to Warner Music Group.
Pollstar, a concert industry magazine, said that in the years that his tours topped the charts - 10 years over four decades performing - the tours raked in $US225 million in ticket sales.
The filing comes less than a week after the pop star died last Thursday at his home in suburban Minneapolis.
The outpouring of grief and nostalgia prompted fans to buy 2.3 million of his songs in three days.
Estimates of how much licensing his personal brand will bring in after death reach to the purple clouds.
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Mark Roesler, chief executive of CMG Worldwide, estimates Prince's earnings will match top-earning dead celebrities like Elvis Presley, whose estate made US$55 million in 2015, according to Forbes magazine.
Under Minnesota law, a person can file a will with probate court in secret.
If Prince did so, the fact one exists would become public once a death certificate is filed.
Prince wasn't married and had no known living children.
