The legal battle between Katherine Jackson and John Branca and John McClain, the executors of her late son Michael Jackson’s estate, is hardly over. The family matriarch is now reportedly seeking a half-a-million-dollar payout from the music icon’s estate to cover her attorney fees.
Katherine has been embroiled for months in an ongoing fight to appeal a judge’s order allowing the executors to move forward with a lucrative business deal to increase the singer’s posthumous fortune. Documents obtained by RadarOnline allege that she is on the hook for $561,548 in related costs to the appeal process.
In the filing, she stated that the estate has “ample resources and much more than will be necessary to pay its anticipated expenses.” Branca and McClain have been overseers of Michael’s remaining wealth and assets since his death in 2009.
His three children, Prince, Paris, and Bigi, most commonly known as “Blanket,” are the beneficiaries of the estate; however, the King of Pop made sure his mother would be cared for in his absence through a trust established solely for her care.
The latest round of the legal melee between the elderly mother and the “Smooth Criminal” artist’s estate team comes a year after the men sought a judge’s approval to move forward with a lucrative business proposal, rumored to be the sale of half of the icon’s music catalog for $800 million.
Michael Jackson died deeply in debt (around $400 million) despite selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. and earning around a billion dollars in his careers. #HistoryVille pic.twitter.com/UHk5v4xtjL
— H i s t o r y V i l l e (@HistoryVille) August 26, 2020
While details of the secret business arrangement have remained protected by sealed court documents, but it is clear that both Branca and McClain believed it would substantially benefit the late entertainer’s estate and children, who have not expressed opposition to the deal.
The singer reportedly died with millions of dollars worth of debt. By December 2022, it was estimated that his legacy had amassed more than $2 billion in earnings from various projects orchestrated by Branca and McClain. Still, the 93-year-old appeared in court in April when she testified in opposition to the deal.
“The Estate was teetering on the verge of collapse, with more than $400 million in debt that encumbered Michael’s most significant assets and little or no liquidity or means to service that debt. Through creative thinking, hard work and business savvy—and, of course, Michael’s extraordinary creative legacy—the Executors transformed the MJJ Business into a profitable enterprise,” said the estate overseers in a previous filing.
Katherine was served with a $909,263.94 tax lien for her Calabasas home by the state of California in November. According to Radar Online, she failed to pay her tax bill in full between 2018 and 2021. In May, it was also reported that the mother of ten received a nearly $1 million allowance from the estate in 2022.
