It's becoming ever clearer what happens when a multi-million-dollar estate like Prince's is up for grabs: Would-be "heirs" come romping out of the shadows.

If one believes the documents filed this week with theCarver County, Minn., court overseeing the distribution of Prince's estate, he had far more secret children, unknown siblings and distant cousins than anyone dreamed.

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So far, no will setting out Prince's wishes for distributing his estate has been found. He had no spouse, no known surviving children and both his parents are dead.

Now, in addition to his one full sister, Tyka Nelson, his half-dozen known half-siblings or their descendants, and a federal prison inmate who claims he is a previously unknown son, come more claimants:

Three more half-siblings. Two of them claim two different fathers who also fathered Prince, and neither man is the actual known father of Prince, John Nelson. 

Two more previously unknown children, one of whom claims to be his adopted son to whom he left $7 million. The other, a Connecticut woman who identifies herself as Taz Laeni Walker, says she was born in St. Paul and adopted by a family friendly with Prince. Walker is 43; Prince was 57 when he died. 

"A friend of my (adoptive) father told me...my mother had multiple sexual partners and Prince's name was mentioned," she says in her document  "I inferred from these conversations that my mother had sex with Prince. I believe that I may be the daughter of Prince."

The Herald:

A woman who does not explain the nature of her relationship to Prince but demands to be included in the DNA testing anyway.  

And seven people (five women, two men) who claim to be descendants of the sisterof Prince's great-great grandfather.  

In other words, Prince's way distant cousins have stepped up to claim a cut of his estate, which may be worth as much as $300 million and is growing by the day since his April 21 death at Paisley Park in Carver County outside Minneapolis.

This latter group of claimants probably will get nowhere, says Laura Zwicker, a trusts and estates attorney for a major firm in Los Angeles. She says Minnesota law, like California law, bars such remote relatives from inheriting.

"The statute says 'closest living relatives' and stops there," she says. "So people who claim a more remote relationship to him are cut out by statute. The more interesting claims are the ones from people who claim to be a child, but they can be decided by genetic testing." (She was skeptical of Walker's claim to be a daughter of Prince just based on their ages.)

The Herald:

Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park compound on April 21, 2016. Since then, the public has gotten to know some of his potential heirs, the doctors who treated him or planned to, some of the lawyers involved in settling his estate, and the police investigating his death.  

Zwicker reiterates what many estates attorneys have been saying since Prince died: He should have drawn up a will.

"If he had a well-written estate plan, it could have eliminated all the expense and nonsense going on now," she says. "His estate plan could have included an intentional omission clause: 'These are the people I provide for and I intentionally deprive anyone else who claims to be an heir.' "

The Herald:

Zwicker says the failure to draw up an estate plan happens among some of her clients, especially in sports or the entertainment industry.

"My rich clients who are entrepreneurs, real-estate developers, hedge-fund creators, they’re all business people and they understand the need to plan," she says. "Where I have fears about this happening is our clients who are professional athletes and in the entertainment industry. Their skill set is often completely different than planning ahead.

"There are times where we cannot bring a client to the finish line — they can’t get over some hurdle" to sign the papers.

Meanwhile, because there is no will, more than half the value of Prince's estate could end up with the IRS (40% of estates over $5.4 million) and the state of Minnesota (16% of estates over $1.6 million). The deadline for sorting out the tax bills is in January, and Uncle Sam takes only cash.

The estate special administrator, Bremer Trust, has to find that cash, and also sort out claims on the estate from creditors, such as the treasurer of Eighth Day Sound Systems, who claims that Prince owes her $256,010.89 for audio services at Paisley Park not paid for.

A California man claims Prince promised to leave him $1 billion. And several other petitioners filed written claims that are rambling and incoherent to the point of impenetrable. But they're all in the file, filling up boxes in the Carver County court clerk's office.

The deadline for filing as a potential heir and submitting proof, thus becoming eligible for DNA testing, was June 10; many of these new claims were filed Tuesday, so it's not clear whether they will be considered.

The next court hearing on the estate, before Judge Kevin Eide, is set for June 27.

Meanwhile, Bremer Trust is exploring ways to manage and monetize the estate to raise more money to help pay the tax bills. One of their ideas: Open up Paisley Park for public tours.