Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, is requesting more information about her late son’s estate. The Jackson family matriarch’s attorney explained her actions. Speaking on behalf of Katherine, attorney L. Londell McMillan issued a statement Wednesday (July 29) explaining the impetus behind Tuesday’s pleadings. “Mrs. Jackson continues to serve as her son’s most trusted and loyal advocate even in death,” the press release read.
“In an effort to gain more facts concerning a suspicious circle of relationships, [an] unnotarized will and an undisclosed trust, both drafted in 2002, which grant the executors and trustees thereunder very broad powers, Mrs. Jackson has sought formal discovery of the temporary special administrators of her son’s estate.”
Those administrators, longtime Jackson attorney John Branca and former music executive John McClain, have been granted temporary power to oversee Jackson’s holdings. Katherine Jackson’s legal team asked the judge in the case to put pressure on the men to hand over more information on the estate in advance of Monday’s pivotal hearing, which could determine who permanently represents the pop star’s estimated $500 million fortune.
According to The Associated Press, Katherine Jackson’s lawyer asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff if they could interview Branca and McClain on Friday and asked that they hand over business contracts and other documents related to Jackson’s business dealings. Beckloff denied the request.
Katherine Jackson has also asked the court for an allowance to cover her own expenses and those of caring for Jackson’s three young children. That matter and the question of who will permanently handle the estate could be determined at Monday’s hearing. Jackson’s 2002 will placed his assets in a trust that named Katherine and the children as beneficiaries, as well as unnamed children’s charities.
In addition to seeking personal, business and legal information relating to Jackson and his deal with AEG Live, Tuesday’s filing sought the handover of “life-insurance policies, settlements and disputes, as well as agreements between the temporary special administrators and Michael Jackson (and others),” according to the AP. Responding to claims that Branca and McClain were “intent on keeping [Katherine Jackson] in the dark as much and for as long as possible,” lawyers for the men said that the Jackson family matriarch had made “voluminous, burdensome and invasive discovery demands” that were impossible to meet in such a short time frame.
The lawyers for Branca and McClain also said they could not turn over the AEG contract because of confidentiality provisions but would do so if she agreed to those provisions. The two sides, however, reportedly could not agree on terms. Howard Weitzman, the attorney representing McClain and Branca, said in a statement released Tuesday that McMillan’s in-court comments on behalf of Katherine Jackson, 79, indicate that she is trying “to rewrite Michael’s will to make Mrs. Jackson ‘Guardian of the Estate’ and have her appointed as an Executor and Trustee of Michael Jackson’s Estate.”
McMillan denied those claims in Wednesday’s statement, saying, “To be clear, neither Mrs. Jackson nor her representatives seek to rewrite her son’s will. Her concerns are and remain the welfare of her son’s surviving children, the preservation of his legacy and the protection of his estate. Unfortunately, and contrary to their public statements, lawyers for John Branca and John McClain have either denied Mrs. Jackson access to critical information or insisted on such onerous and unreasonable restrictions on her access to and use of such information as to be tantamount to an outright refusal,” specifically referring to the contract Jackson signed with promoter AEG for his planned 50-show string of comeback shows at London’s O2 arena.
“Mrs. Jackson is looking for transparency in terms of the administration of her son’s estate,” McMillan said. “Because this transparency has not been forthcoming, she was forced to resort to making formal discovery requests. Such measures will not be necessary if Mrs. Jackson is appointed a co-executor of the estate.” The lawyer claims that Katherine Jackson was the only person who served as a trustee and co-manager of her son’s business interests at the time of his death and that the will allows for the appointment of a third executor. Katherine Jackson was initially appointed temporary administrator of Jackson’s affairs, but Beckloff transferred the title to McClain and Branca after the 2002 will surfaced, counseling them to seek Mrs. Jackson’s opinion on any major business deals.
