text: FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2007 file photo, Prince performs during the halftime show of the Super Bowl XLI football game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. A Minnesota judge overseeing Prince's estate said Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
   
   FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2007 file photo, Prince performs during the halftime show of the Super Bowl XLI football game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. A Minnesota judge overseeing Prince's estate said Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
   
   MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge overseeing Prince's estate narrowed down the wide pool of potential heirs for the late superstar's fortune on Friday, ruling out nearly 30 claimants while ordering genetic testing for six purported family members. 
   
   Carver County Judge Kevin Eide's order requires genetic testing for Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, plus three half-siblings: Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson and John Nelson. Ken Abdo, the attorney for the three half-siblings declined to comment. Tyka Nelson's attorney did not immediately return a voicemail. 
   
   Eide also ordered testing for Brianna Nelson, who has claimed to be Prince's niece, and possible grand-niece Victoria Nelson. The pair has claimed Briana Nelson's father was Prince's half-brother. Their attorney, Andrew Stoltman, declined to comment. 
   
   It's unclear why the judge did not order testing for Omar Baker or Alfred Jackson, two men who were listed as half-brothers in the original petition for the court to name a special administrator to the estate, but Eide's order includes a note that the court "is not aware of any objection or dispute" that all six siblings or half-siblings are legitimate heirs. 
   
   Jackson's attorney, Justin Bruntjen, declined to comment. An attorney for Baker could not be immediately reached. 
   
   Prince died April 21 of a drug overdose. The process of determining his heirs and parceling out his estate has fallen to the courts because he had no known children and left no will. A DNA test has already ruled out a Colorado prison inmate who claimed to be Prince's son. 
   
   Barring any others who could come forward claiming ties, Eide's order drastically limits who may benefit from Prince's fortunes — an estimated $300 million or more — or gain control of his legacy. 
   
   Among those excluded from potential heirship in Eide's order are five unidentified people with shaky claims that Prince was their biological father. For example, one woman who said she was adopted claimed Prince was her father because "based upon the general description of the lifestyle of her biological parents, her fascination with the Decedent and physical similarities." 
   
   The order also tosses out a handful of claimants who alleged that Prince's father was someone other than John L. Nelson, who is listed in court records as Prince's father. 
   
   Among those claimants was Venita Jackson Leverette, whose attorney, James Selmer, called Eide's decision "a travesty" and said he's considering an appeal. Selmer opined that his client would be banned from undergoing testing while a man serving an eight-year prison sentence in Colorado was given a DNA test. 
   
   "The better course would be to allow people that have a plausible connection to him to have a blood test," he said. 
   
   The four Prince siblings or half-siblings ordered to undergo genetic testing all claim John L. Nelson as their father. Susan Link, head of estate planning for Minneapolis-based Maslon, said the judge may have ordered them tested because of the claimants who said John L. Nelson wasn't actually Prince's father — even though he threw out those claims. 
   
   The two that don't need to be tested — Baker and Jackson — claim relation to Prince through a common mother, Mattie Shaw, but different fathers. ||||| (Reuters) - A Minnesota judge has excluded nearly 30 would-be heirs from the estate of the late pop star Prince, bolstering the inheritance claims of the performer’s sister and surviving half-siblings, probate court records released on Friday showed. 
   
   U.S. musician Prince performs on stage at Yas Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates November 14, 2010. REUTERS/Jumana El-Heloueh/File Photo 
   
   The court order, issued on Thursday, came in response to a flood of individuals seeking a piece of an estate some have valued at more than $500 million, left by Prince when he died unexpectedly in April at the age of 57, apparently without a will. 
   
   Claims have poured into the probate court since Prince’s younger sister, Tyka Nelson, filed a petition seeking appointment of a special administrator for the estate and naming herself and five half-siblings as the only known heirs. 
   
   In his 19-page order, Carver County Judge Kevin Eide appeared to accept those six claims, stating, “The court is not aware of any objection or dispute with the statement that these persons are the siblings or half-siblings” of Prince. 
   
   Under the ruling, Tyka Nelson and three half-siblings by Prince’s father will undergo genetic testing - John, Norrine and Sharon Nelson - along with two more individuals claiming to be Prince’s niece and grandniece. 
   
   No provision for genetic testing was made for two other half-brothers - Alfred Jackson and Omar Baker - who shared a common mother with the singer. 
   
   The judge dismissed claims of heirship from a total of 29 other people purported to have some degree of kinship with Prince, including a professed secret wife who said the CIA had classified their marriage records as top secret. 
   
   Among other would-be heirs he denied were five people who came forward claiming Prince was their biological or adoptive father, and several others claiming their dad was also Prince’s genetic parent by way of an extramarital affair with his mother. 
   
   Also dismissed were a batch of claims by several people who described themselves as descendants of a sister of Prince’s great-grandfather. 
   
   The musician, born as Prince Rogers Nelson, has long been identified in public records as the only surviving son from the marriage between Mattie Della Shaw and John L. Nelson, both of whom are now dead. And Judge Eide ruled there was no “credible, documented claim” of a surviving Prince spouse. 
   
   If Prince also left no will and no surviving offspring of his own, as appears to be the case, his estate under Minnesota law would be apportioned in equal shares to his siblings and the nearest surviving descendants of any siblings now dead. Siblings and half-siblings are treated the same. 
   
   The special administrator of the estate, Bremer Trust, has said it was in the process of determining the fair-market value of Prince’s estate.
target: – There will be no payday for 29 people who claimed to be Prince's heirs, including a woman who said the CIA covered up her marriage to the superstar, a Minnesota judge ruled in an order disclosed Friday. Reuters reports that Carver County Judge Kevin Eide ordered genetic testing for six other claimants: Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, three half-siblings by his father, and a possible niece and grandniece. Two half-brothers from Prince's mother will not be tested under the judge's ruling, which will determine the future of an estate thought to be worth up to $500 million. Other rejected claimants include at least five people who claimed Prince was their father, and several who claimed that their father had an affair with Prince's mother, making their father Prince's real father and the late star their half-brother, the AP reports. Under Minnesota law, the estate of Prince—who left no known will or surviving offspring—will be split between siblings, half-siblings, and the offspring of any deceased siblings. Despite the order for genetic testing, Eide's ruling says he "is not aware of any objection or dispute" to the six siblings or half-siblings being legitimate heirs. (A DNA test ruled out an inmate in Colorado who claimed he was Prince's son.)