Caren McCormack, who has four other adult children, claims she met Prince in Invercargill in 1976 when he was 17 and she was 16.

The Invercargill woman who claims Prince is her son's father is proceeding with DNA testing to confirm the paternity.

Caren McCormack said the family was given until December 12 by a Minnesota court to confirm they were going to proceed with the DNA testing, and they have.

Samples had been provided in August, but were awaiting shipment from Auckland for testing in the United States, McCormack said.

JOHN HAWKINS/FAIRFAX NZ Invercargill mother Caren McCormack, who claims her son's father is singer Prince, has taken the next step in confirming the paternity of her son.

There was no actual time frame they had been given to provide the DNA samples, she said.

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"Minnesota, their collection laws are different from ours, so they're sorting out the logistics of the whole thing."

The samples had not been sent yet as they had nowhere to send them, McCormack said.

McCormack claims she met Prince in Invercargill in 1976 – when she was 16 and he was 17. At this time, Prince was at the very beginning of his music career in Minneapolis and he was still attending high school.

McCormack declined to say why the 17-year-old would be in Invercargill at the time.

McCormack was waiting on lawyers for Prince's estate to proceed further and she would send the samples as soon as they had an address, she said.

She was talking with those dealing with the estate, McCormack said. "There's nothing to say yet."

A letter signed by both Caren McCormack and her son Max Stacey McCormack, known as Stacey, has been filed to the Bremer Trust, which has been charged with looking after the estate of the musician who died in April.

She said she was aware of how unlikely the claim would sound to most people but she genuinely believed Prince was Stacey's father.

"I realise what the public opinion will be like – it's understandable."

Prince, born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958, has no living heirs to his estate and died without writing a will.

His only child, Ahmir, died in 1996 just a week after being born, following complications from the rare genetic disorder Pfeiffer syndrome.