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Prince’s Death: Alleged Relatives Refuse DNA Testing

By Sandra Johnson
Published on: 13:50 PST, May 24, 2016

Prince’s death has brought forward a huge number of individuals wanting to claim a piece of his formidable estate — so many, in fact, that a judge has ordered DNA testing to determine who is actually an heir to Prince’s fortune.

While many have agreed to submit to DNA testing, at least two women claiming to be Prince’s relatives are refusing to be genetically tested.

According to legal documents filed Monday in Carver County, Minnesota, Brianna Nelson and Jeannine Halloran believe that they have provided more than enough information to prove that their claims are legitimate. According to reports, Nelson claims to be the daughter of Prince’s deceased half-brother, Duane Nelson, Sr. Halloran is the adult guardian of Briana’s minor niece, Victoria, and claims that Victoria is the granddaughter of Duane Nelson.

Through the alleged relationship to Prince’s half-brother, Brianna would be Prince’s niece while Victoria would be his grandniece. As a result, both women believe they are entitled to a portion of Prince’s $300 million fortune.

In the joint filing, Halloran and Nelson claim that they have provided birth certificates and other evidence of their familial relationship to Prince. As such, the pair believes they have satisfied Minnesota’s paternity requirements, USA Today reports.

According to previous reports, those seeking to claim a part of Prince’s fortune would have to pay for DNA testing out of their own pockets.

A letter written to the judge presiding over the execution of Prince’s estate supports the claims made by Brianna Nelson and Halloran. On May 16, attorney Michael B. Padden attempted to establish the relationship between Brianna and Duane Nelson. Additionally, Padden noted Victoria’s existence before she had staked a claim, saying that he believed Victoria to be the granddaughter to Duane Nelson, Sr., through Nelson’s late son, Duane Nelson, Jr.

In the letter, Padden wrote that he had been the attorney for Duane Nelson, Jr., at the time of his death.

“Junior passed away in December of 2005 suddenly and unexpectedly. At the time, he was living with a woman in Buffalo who I will identify with initials ‘J.H.’ I do not believe they were married. They had a child together — minor V.N.,” Padden wrote. “At the time of Junior’s death, I represented him. After his death, J.H. asked me to represent her for matters concerning Junior’s estate. My representation of J.H. for that matter ended years ago.”

Padden went on to write that he hadn’t been able to reach J.H. to advise her of her daughter’s claim to Prince’s estate, but the minor granddaughter has since been identified as Victoria.

Prince died unexpectedly on April 21 in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The 57-year-old “Purple Rain” singer has reportedly left no will, which as made the division of his assets rather complicated. At the time of this death, Prince had six living siblings — his sister, Tyka, and five half-siblings.

In the weeks since his death, hundreds of alleged heirs have come forward with a claim to a piece of Prince’s fortune. Perhaps the most widely covered of those claims came after a 39-year-old Colorado prison inmate came forward and said his mother had sex with Prince in 1976 at a Kansas City hotel. The man, Carlin Q. Williams, has expressed interest in a DNA test.

Details of Prince’s death have slowly begun to emerge, with the most recent report indicating that the “Raspberry Beret” singer may have been dead for more than six hours before he was discovered in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

In the weeks leading up to Prince’s death, the singer had been seeking treatment for painkiller addiction, according to reports. Prince’s cause of death has not yet been released.

[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]

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