Key Points
-
Paris Jackson is requesting $600 million be distributed to Michael Jackson’s trust, benefiting her and her siblings.
-
Court docs claim that despite Michael’s will instructing them to receive payments on their 21st birthday, Paris, Prince, and Bigi didn’t receive them.
-
The singer died in 2009 at 50.
Paris Jackson‘s latest request in the saga of her late father Michael Jackson‘s estate and finances has a major price tag.
Paris has called on the executor of the singer’s estate to partially fund her family’s trust and distribute income to the beneficiaries listed in Michael’s will.
Per court documents filed on Oct. 29 and reviewed by Entertainment Weekly, the executor of Michael’s estate allegedly “continues to keep each beneficiary beholden to him with an iron grip over when and if monies are distributed to them” and hasn’t distributed the trusts as instructed.
Paris is requesting that the estate distribute $600 million after Michael’s trust has remained unfunded since his death in 2009.
“Executors’ contributions to the Estate’s liquidity, including the restructuring of debt, certain high-risk entertainment projects, and principally the selling off of assets, have produced considerable amounts of cash,” the documents claim.
“Executors, however, have never presented any plan for funding the Michael Jackson Family Trust to the Court.”
Michael’s children were supposed to start receiving payments from his trust when Paris, Prince, and Bigi all turned 21. These dates have since passed and they did not receive the intended payments. He also intended for his children to receive “outright principal distributions from the Trust” on their 30th birthdays. Prince, the eldest of the beneficiaries, turns 30 in February 2027.
Additional distributions are intended for when each of Michael’s children turn 35 and 40. “More than seventeen years after his passing, Michael Jackson’s family trust remains unfunded,” the documents state.
Paris’ attorney claimed that the estate has the funding to make a distribution to the family’s trust as well, including the sale of Neverland Ranch in 2022 and a lucrative deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, generating enough money for at least a partial distribution to her and her brothers’ trusts. However, she alleges that none of the money has come through.
“When Paris began challenging the administration of the Estate last year through her objection to Executor Branca’s non-contractual gifts to his colleagues, her challenges were met with scorched earth litigation, public attacks, and a multimillion reduction in monies provided to her and her siblings by the Estate,” the documents add.
“This course of conduct and administration should not continue.” Paris is requesting that the court order the estate to pay the $600 million amount, or another amount the judge determines is appropriate, to the family trust.
Entertainment Weeklycontacted attorneys for the estate of Michael Jackson and did not receive an immediate response.
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.
In response to the filing, the Estate told PEOPLE, “The Estate was able to secure a ruling to significantly reduce that amount, but the matter has not been settled and could still change.”
They also called the allegations of denying or withholding payments to Michael’s beneficiaries “a complete fabrication.” The Estate added that over $200 million had already been distributed to his beneficiaries.
“The Estate is once again deflecting from its own incompetence. Paris called for the trust to be partially funded, something Mr. Branca had the ability and obligation to do long ago. After years of delay, Paris had no choice but to step in herself,” a spokesperson for Paris told Entertainment Weekly in response to the Estate’s comment.
This filing is the latest in the legal saga between Paris and her late father’s estate, which she has accused of mishandling his finances.
A hearing for the matter is set for Dec. 4.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
