The NME reports that another woman has come forward, claiming to be the child of the late rapper, DMX and bumping up the total of his alleged number of children to 15 further complicating the battle over his estate.
DMX, real name Earl Simmons, died in April of this year after a cocaine-induced heart attack. He was the first artist to debut an album at No. 1 five times in a row on the Billboard 200 charts and in total has sold more than 74 million records all over the world.
As reported by Page Six, the woman named Raven Barmer-Simmons, from Georgia, recently contacted the 14 other alleged children of the rapper. Three of the rapper’s sons, Xavier, Tacoma and Sean Simmons, were declared temporary administrators of the estate last week. The three sons, along with a daughter Praise Mary Ella are from his 16-year marriage to his childhood friend Tashera Simmons, who he married in 1999. She separated from DMX in 2010 and later divorced him.
Paternity tests required
Herbert Nass, the trusts and estates attorney for the three sons, said in a statement that all of DMX’s alleged children will need to undergo paternity tests. In a statement to Page Six, he said the next big thing would be to determine DMX’s rightful heirs and the estate would ask everyone to prove their paternity.
All the legal children would be entitled to an equal share of the estate once the assets had been calculated, and the debts and administrative costs paid. He added that they didn’t have a lot of information about the rapper’s income streams but the appointment of temporary administrations would mean they should be able to find this out.
The late rapper’s fiancée, Desiree Lindstorm, unsuccessfully applied to be his common-law wife. She is also the mother his five-year-old son, Exodus.
Estate worth less than $1 million
The courts recently estimated that DMX’s estate is worth less than $1 million, with his daughters’ legal team estimating it was worth $50,000 when he died. The rapper had filed for bankruptcy three times during his lifetime, citing child support claims as his priority the first time.
Kanye West, the rapper, record producer and fashion designer now known simply as Ye, helped raise $1million for DMX’s family with a line of Balenciaga tribute shirts, and DMX’s record label Def Jam reportedly spent more than $35,000 to cover his funeral.
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