After nearly two years of legal disputes regarding Michael Jackson’s estate, a Los Angeles court has ruled in favor of the estate’s co-executors, dismissing the objections raised by Katherine Jackson, the late singer’s mother, to a proposed sale of his music catalog.
Katherine, now 94, had filed several objections following a ruling in probate court last year that allowed attorney John Branca and A&R executive John McClain, the co-executors of Michael Jackson’s estate and trustees of the Michael Jackson Family Trust, to proceed with the sale of 50% of the catalog to Sony for a reported $600 million.
In court documents filed on Wednesday, Aug. 21 and obtained by PEOPLE, Katherine’s latest appeal was denied, as her contentions “lack merit” and were not previously made to the probate court that approved the transaction, and because a review found that the transaction does not violate the terms of the trust.
The Jackson family matriarch had also argued that before his death in 2009, Michael had told family members that he wanted to keep the estate assets in the family in perpetuity.
But according to the new documents, that argument doesn’t hold water, as it’s Michael’s intent as expressed in his will that ultimately controls what happens.
“Here, the will gave the executors broad powers of sale, with no exception for the specific assets at issue in this case,” the court filing says. “As such, the probate court did not err in concluding that it was Michael’s intent to allow the executors to sell any estate assets, including those at issue in the proposed transaction.”
Per Michael’s will, his entire estate was to be given to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, the beneficiaries of which are his three children Prince, 27, Paris, 26, and Bigi, 22, as well as unnamed charities.
Katherine is a life beneficiary of a portion of a sub-trust, which allows the trustees to distribute as much to the sub-trust as they deem necessary; in Katherine’s case, she’s given money for her “care, support, maintenance, comfort and well-being,” according to the filing. When she dies, any assets that were set aside for her will be passed to the kids’ share of the trust.
Though the estate has yet to be distributed to the trust due to disputes with the IRS, per the filing, Branca and McClain were authorized by a probate court in 2019 to continue to operate Michael’s businesses.
In November 2022, they filed a petition to approve the proposed Sony transaction, which was ultimately granted — despite Katherine’s objections.
In challenging the sale, she claimed that the assets were valuable, and would appreciate over time, and that the estate didn’t need the cash the sale would bring in.
She did, however, agree that the probate court could grant Branca and McClain permission to make the sale if they wanted, something noted in Wednesday’s filing.
