Court OKs exhumation of Brazilian singer Tim Maia

A civil court in RJ is allowing a woman who claims to be the daughter of Brazilian soul singer Tim Maia to exhume his body and conduct a paternity test.

The decision affirms a lower court's ruling in December 2010. The case has been pending since 2009.

Maia is one of Brazil's greatest soul singers. He died 12 years ago.

His known family had resisted the woman's initial request to dig up the body, saying it was unnecessary and upsetting. Maia's son Carmelo Maia had offered to furnish genetic material himself.

The singer's family could still appeal to a higher court. Dario Correa is the family's lawyer. He was quoted by Globo TV's G1 website Wednesday as saying that the family would obey Tuesday's court directive.

(Published by Taiwan News - March 24, 2011)