Prince's DNA tested as claims besiege estate. As the singer had no Will, it is expected more than 50 per cent of Prince's estate will be lost to death taxes.

Prince's estate has been deluged by claims prompting a request for his blood to be DNA tested. Bremer Trust, appointed to temporarily oversee Prince's assets, has been given permission by a Minnesota judge to obtain a sample of his blood held by the Midwest Medical Examiner.

Judge Kevin Eide, who ordered the blood analysis on Friday, said people wishing to make a claim had four months to file a claim. Judge Eide said the request for genetic testing was because "parentage issues might arise".

Prince's estate is estimated to be $300 million and his sister, Tyka Nelson, said he had left no will.
Possible heirs include Nelson and five half siblings. Prince's only known child was a son, Boy Gregory, who died a week after his birth in October 1996, due to a rare genetic disorder called Pfeiffer syndrome. As the singer had no will, it is expected more than 50 per cent of Prince's estate will be lost to death taxes. Minnesota's death tax rate, one of the highest in the US, is 16 per cent. After the US federal government 40 per cent death tax is added, a total of 56 per cent death tax will be applied.

Prince, whose full name was Prince Rogers Nelson, was found dead on April 21 at his Paisley Park home-studio complex in Chanhassen, a Minneapolis suburb. He was 57. The Minneapolis Star Tribune and KSTP-TV reported on Thursday that Prince's autopsy had found the painkiller Percocet in his system. KSTP-TV, citing two unnamed police officials, reported that Prince also had a dangerously low red blood cell count, indicating he had been ill. A spokeswoman for the local medical examiner's office that conducted a post-mortem examination of Prince declined to confirm the reports.

The cause of Prince's death remained undetermined.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD | May 7, 2016 Lenny Ann Low