In the 20+ years between the vasectomy and Brown's death, Hynie's child is the only child to claim Brown was his father. The estate asked Judge Rodney Peeples to establish a DNA protocol for identifying heirs, after seven years, Hynie's son had taken no DNA test under the protocol. In May 2014 a South Carolina judge agreed to the request of Hynie's attorney that any DNA test results for her son would be held "confidential." In an interview, Tomi Rae recalls James Brown saying his son would have a better life because he is half white. By late 2000 Tomi Rae was pregnant with Brown's son, born in June 2001. Brown named the boy after himself – James Brown II – the only child he ever gave his own name to. "James thought his son might be president one day," recalls Tomi Rae. "When he named him he said, 'I gave him my name because I knew that having my name and being half white, he might actually have a shot in this world. He could become the president of the United States one day'. He said that this boy was going to do more than he ever did. I felt those shoes were too big to fill." Lockout from the Brown estate On the day after Brown's death, Hynie returned to the Brown estate to find padlocks on the gates and security personnel guarding the property. According to Brown's attorneys, Brown's estate was secured to protect the property in trust and prevent anyone from removing the property from the estate. On January 11, 2007, lawyers for the Brown estate read his will, and neither Hynie nor her son James II were named as beneficiaries of the estate. According to Hynie's attorney, Hynie plans to contest the will to fight for a share of Brown's estate now that the will has been filed with the probate court. Hynie wants the court to rule that she was legally married to Brown at the time of his death and that she is entitled to half of Brown's estate because of marriage. After weeks of legal wrangling, Hynie received permission by the court on February 9, 2007 to access the Brown estate to gather her belongings. In July 2018, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed with the local probate judge in Augusta that Hynie was the former wife and widow of James Brown,