Dozens Vie For A Piece Of Prince's Estate
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Seven weeks after the sudden death of Prince Rogers Nelson, some two-dozen people are claiming to be his heirs -- and legally entitled to a piece of his multi-million dollar estate.
The deadline for filing such claims was Friday, June 10.
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Besides the half-dozen relatives already identified through probate proceedings, there are people from across the country who claim to be everything from Prince's adopted to illegitimate children.
The Carver County District Court, which is handling the estate distribution, will now proceed with genetic testing of claimed heirs.
With an estate valued at around $300 million -- a number expected to balloon -- people are coming out of the woodwork to stake their piece of the Prince pie.
Besides Prince's lone sister, Tyka Nelson, and a half dozen half siblings and their children, at least 16 other people have filed court affidavits to support their claims.
Court documents show that eight of them say they are descendants of the sister to Prince's great-great grandfather, Clarence Nelson.
But legal experts say Minnesota's probate law will likely leave them without a cent because their relationship is too distant.
Carlin Q. Williams is in a federal prison, but that did not stop his mother from filing on his behalf. Marsha Henson said she had sexual relations with Prince back in 1976 in a Kansas City hotel room. Williams apparently was born nine months later.
And a 43-year-old Connecticut woman says she is Prince's unknown daughter. She claims her mother was intimate with Prince, who was a close friend to the family when they lived in St. Paul.
The problem is her age; if Prince is her father, the encounter happened when he was only 14.
Then there is a South Carolina man, Norman Carthens, who says he was adopted by Prince. He also claims to have proof of a Prince will. Carthens says it specifically lists an inheritance of $7 million.
Friday's filing deadline produced three more people claiming to be half-siblings to Prince, despite listing his father's name as "Haywood." Prince's dad was named John.
Finally, a New York woman did not claim any specific relationship to Prince, but still wants to undergo DNA testing.
The next step in the probate proceeding is for claimants to submit to DNA testing to prove a genetic link. That will likely eliminate a number of them from any part of his fortune.
Carver County Judge Kevin Eide has set the next hearing for June 27 to address any challenges to the DNA process.
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