THE BATTLE FOR JACKO’S €1.8BN ESTATE
Singer’s son Bigi takes legal action against own gran, 93
money to do what they want.
She’s a different generation. She only leaves her home nowadays for appointments and misses Joe so much.
“She’s taken action against the estate many times, but the kids feel the estate has been very fair to her, covering her medical bills. Their view is, ‘We haven’t got it that bad’, they have a lovely life.”
Jackson’s final will before his death cut many of his relatives out of his money and control of his legacy.
Michael’s brothers and sisters were shocked when the regular handouts they had been receiving stopped after his death.
Instead, 40% of the net income goes to Katherine. Prince, Paris, and Bigi share a further 40%. The remaining 20% goes to charities.
But the whole estate is overseen by executors John Branca and John Mcclain. And they have pointed to the estate having once been drowning in debts exceeding €366million.
Branca and Mcclain argued offloading Jacko’s catalogue was necessary to address the financial instability. Last month, a portion of the catalogue was sold to Sony for €550m, intensifying the conflict with the regard to the rest. Prince and Paris have chosen to keep their positions private.
It is not the first time a row over the estate has blown up. In 2012, Jacko’s siblings expressed concern about how it was being run.
“I think you have a bunch of people who have a lot of different ideas about what should happen with their mother in this situation. It’s a complex family dynamic,” Katherine’s attorney said at the time.
A letter signed by five of Jackson’s siblings – Jermaine, Janet, Tito, Rebbie and Randy – accused executors of conspiring in their brother’s death, pressuring their mother, and faking the will.
Jermaine later removed his name. An estate spokesman said: “We are saddened false and defamatory accusations grounded in stale internet conspiracy theories are being made by certain members of Michael’s family whom he chose to leave out of his will.
“We are especially disheartened they come at a time when remarkable progress has been made to secure the financial future of his children by turning around the estate’s finances.”
After Jackson’s death, a flood of legal claims were made against his estate, some ridiculous, others serious. Sadly, now the clan are more used to court arenas than pop ones.