A federal prisoner in Colorado has no legal claim to Prince’s estate because he is not the deceased music legend’s son, according to a source with knowledge of the genetic test.
A DNA test proved that Carlin Q. Williams, who claimed to be Prince’s offspring, was not his son, the source said.
On Wednesday, the judge in the estate case sealed all information about the DNA testing, which blocks it from being released to the public as part of the court record.
The 39-year-old Williams, who is in federal prison on gun charges, had claimed he was the sole heir to Prince’s estate.
His claim were filed in the same court where Prince’s siblings are seeking their share of the singer’s fortune.
Williams said he became Prince’s progeny when his mother had sex with Prince in 1976 in a hotel in Kansas City. His mother, Marsha Henson, supported the claim in a sworn affidavit. Prince was an unknown singer at the time.
Prince was worth $300 million, according to various estimates, when he died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 21 at the age of 57. His estate is expected to grow as his music sales continue to explode.
Without a will, under Minnesota law his estate would go to his sister and his half-siblings. They would control his brand, including Prince’s NPG record label, thousands of unreleased songs and the contents of a vault the musician left behind.
Williams isn’t the only person to claim relation to Prince. But in May, District Judge Kevin Eide, who is overseeing Prince’s estate, ruled anyone claiming to be an heir could be subject to genetic testing and will need to pay for the testing themselves.