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Artist News Legal
Minnesota court upholds ruling over rejected Prince heirs
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 12 September 2017
The Minnesota Court Of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that said the descendants of a man Prince regarded as a brother do not qualify as heirs to the late musician’s estate.
As previously reported, Prince died last year without making a will, and an assortment of people subsequently came forward claiming to be his heirs. The courts rejected various such claims before confirming the pop star’s siblings and half-siblings as beneficiaries of his estate.
Brianna Nelson and Victoria Nelson were among the rejected claimants. They are respectively daughter and granddaughter of the late Duane Nelson Sr, who was not a blood relative of Prince, but – the two women argued – was nevertheless raised by the musician’s father as if he was his son. To that end, they added, Prince regarded Duane as a brother.
The two Nelsons appealed the initial ruling, but appeal judges concluded that the lower court applied the relevant Minnesota laws correctly when rejecting the two women’s claims to heir status.
