After nearly two years of legal wrangling over Michael Jackson’s estate, a Los Angeles court has sided with the co-executor of the King of Pop’s estate, effectively dismissing his mother Katherine’s repeated objections to a proposed high-priced catalog sale. .
Katherine, 94, filed multiple objections after attorney John Branca and A&R director John McClain, co-executors of Michael’s estate and trustees of the Michael Jackson Family Trust, won a favorable ruling in probate court last year that allowed them to proceed with the reported sale of half of Michael’s music catalog to Sony for $600 million.
In court documents filed Wednesday, Aug. 21 and obtained by PEOPLE, Katherine’s latest appeal was denied because her claims were “baseless” and were not previously presented to the probate court that approved the transaction, and because a review found the transaction did not violate the terms trust.
Attorneys for Katherine declined to comment when contacted by PEOPLE.
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Prince Michael Jackson, Katherine Jackson, Blanket Jackson and Paris Jackson attend the tribute to Michael Jackson at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater Hand & Footprint Ceremony on January 26, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
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The Jackson family matriarch also claimed that Michael told family members before his death in 2009 that he wanted to keep the estate in the family forever. But according to the new documents, that argument doesn’t hold water, since it’s Michael’s intent expressed in his will that ultimately controls what happens.
“Here, the will gave the executors broad powers of sale, without exception for the specific property at issue in this case,” the court filing states. “As such, the probate court did not err in concluding that Michael’s intent was to permit the executors to sell all of the estates, including those at issue in the proposed transaction.”
According to Michael’s will, his entire estate was to be given to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, whose beneficiaries are his three children, Prince, 27, Paris, 26, and Bigi, 22, as well as unnamed charities.
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Michael Jackson performs on his BAD tour in 1988.
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Katherine is a life beneficiary of a portion of the sub-trust, which allows the trustees to distribute as much of the sub-trust as they see fit; in Katherine’s case, she provided the money for her “care, support, maintenance, comfort and welfare,” according to the filing. When she dies, any assets set aside for her will pass to the children’s share of the trust.
Although the estate has yet to be distributed to the foundation due to disputes with the IRS, according to the filing, in 2019 the probate court authorized Branca and McClain to continue running Michael’s business.
In November 2022, they petitioned for approval of the proposed transaction with Sony, which was eventually approved — despite Katherine’s objections. In contesting the sale, she argued that the property was valuable and would increase over time and that the estate did not need the money that the sale would bring. However, she agreed that the probate court could grant Branka and McClain permission to sell if they wanted, according to Wednesday’s filing.
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