AS MICHAEL Jackson’s father Joe moved to assert control over his son’s estate, his lawyer said the family had not been able to locate a will for the pop icon and that Jackson’s mother would seek custody of his three children.
“That’s who Michael would have wanted to have the children. She loves them dearly,” lawyer Londell McMillan told CNN on Sunday in an appearance outside the Black Entertainment Television awards.
He said the children were in “great care” and in a “loving environment” with their grandmother, Katherine, at the family’s San Fernando Valley estate.
Asked about the will, Mr McMillan said the family had heard “reports of one . . . but none has been presented to the family at this time”.
He told CNN that he and his wife alone were in charge of their son’s estate and legacy. The 80-year-old patriarch declared in a statement read by the publicist that the couple “have the personal and legal authority to act, and solely Katherine and I have authority for our son and his children.”
Whether the elder Jackson has that authority is not clear. Michael Jackson might have written a will naming another person as executor of his estate, and Debbie Rowe, the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children, might have a strong claim for custody, legal experts have said.
The announcement that Katherine Jackson would seek custody of the children – Prince Michael jnr (12), Paris Michael Katherine (11), and Prince Michael II (7) – has potential to become its own complex legal case.
Given Jackson’s unusual custody arrangements negotiated with Debbie Rowe over his two oldest children, it would seem likely his wishes for their care after his death were written and notarised at the time of the agreement, family law experts said.
However, experts said that if someone other than the children’s biological mother is designated for custody, Ms Rowe would have a good chance of challenging the arrangements as her waiving of parental rights probably would be deemed illegal.
Ms Rowe sued Jackson over the custody agreement and won an appeals court verdict in 2006 but settled out of court on undisclosed terms.
Prince Michael II was born of a surrogate whose identity hasn’t been made public. The surrogate’s custody petition, if she were to make one, wouldn’t have the same power as Ms Rowe’s unless she was proved to have been the genetic mother as well.
Despite speculation that Jackson was not the biological father of the older children, under California law he was the legal parent as he was married to Ms Rowe at the time they were born.
The court presiding over Jackson’s affairs might appoint a guardian to protect the interests of the children. If no will or trust surfaces spelling out how he wanted his estate dispersed, under state law his three children would inherit his property in equal shares.
Mr McMillan suggested that if there was no will, Katherine Jackson “is the duly appointed person” to oversee “for the best interest of the children”.
If, however, Jackson left guidance and designated an executor, that person has 30 days from knowledge of his death to petition the court for administration of his estate or the right to serve as executor could be seen as waived.
At the BET celebratory ceremony, which turned into as much of a tribute to Jackson as an awards presentation, sister Janet Jackson briefly addressed the cheering audience. “To you Michael is an icon, but to us Michael is family, and he will forever live in all of our hearts.”