There were some surprising twists this week in the ongoing saga that is the probate of Michael Jackson's estate. While Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, dropped her objections to the appointment of attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain as the permanent executors of the estate, Michael's father, Joe Jackson, filed a 60-page petition wherein he asked for a $20,000 per month allowance from his son's estate and voiced his objections to the appointment of Branca and McClain.
In the end Judge Mitchell Beckloff named Branca and McClain as the permanent executors because this was exactly what Michael stated in his Last Will and Testament:
"That was a decision his son made," Beckloff said in court. "I don't see how (Joe Jackson's) affected by the appointment of Branca or McClain as executors."
The hearing on Joe Jackson's request for an allowance has been set for Thursday, December 10. Of course, since Joe Jackson was not named as a beneficiary of his son's revocable living trust (according to the petition for probate that was filed along with Jackson's 2002 Pour Over Will to open the estate, Michael's three children, his mother and several children's charities were named as the beneficiaries of the Michael Jackson Family Trust), Joe Jackson will have an uphill battle proving that he is entitled to receive even one penny from his son's estate.
- Judge Names Pair of Executors for Jackson Estate
- Reading Michael Jackson's Will Isn't a Thriller
- Choice of Permanent Executor of Michael Jackson's Estate Deferred
- Michael Jackson's Will vs. the Michael Jackson Family Trust
- Learn How to Follow Michael Jackson's Probate Court Docket
- A Collection of Blogs About Michael Jackson's Estate and Family Trust
More than a year has elapsed since the above article was written and I cannot write about the merits of Joe receiving an allowance or Katherine Jackson giving up her opposition to the executors claims.
But I can talk about how John Branca and John McClain have treated their stewardship over Jackson’s estate, or more pointedly, their positioning themselves for self enrichment at the expense of the Estate’s intended beneficiaries. My words will not pull punches, so forgive me in advance.
Katherine Jackson is an elderly lady looking after Michael’s children and a clan of other grandchildren with a mountain of bills to keep her oversized household feed and schooled, and recent media reports have suggested the she and/or her husband Joe is the greedy one here?!
Katherine is one of the beneficiaries and the estate executors are holding back financial benefit from her probably waiting for her to pass so the truth of their stinginess will not become evident. One report I read says Katherine Jackson has comparatively received very little “cash” from the estate to cover her basic household expenses, compared with the how much money the executors are stuffing down their own tunics. Let me stir a timeline into the details that support my assertions below.
For example look at this morsel (six months after Jackson’s death):
“The executors of Michael Jackson’s estate have filed documents, explaining why they should be entitled to more than the statutory fee most executors get — a big reason … Joe Jackson.”
So you see a Jackson, not the executors, are to blame for the executors focus on self enrichment and TMZ reports as much 12/17/2009 11:49 AM PST by TMZ Staff
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Now inching forward, look at this quote (seven months after Jackson’s death):
“In legal docs filed today, lawyers for John Branca and John McClain asked the court to green light compensation to the tune of 10% of all profits, excluding profits from ‘This Is It’…”
And by this time we are lead to believe that these executors who worked for free on the This Is It movie and are doing everyone a favor by turning down any potential commission from the movie, and so they are really very deserving. Again TMZ reports as much Jan 22nd 2010 1:19 PM PST.
So now a Jackson is to blame for the Estate needing more money and these guys are self-sacrificing on top of it so we have been softened and repositioned into believing that the little maneuver that follows is okay.
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Inching on in time, look at this quote (eight months after Jackson’s death):
“The executors for the estate of Michael Jackson just got their 10%…The judge just approved the fee request, stating that the arrangement actually could save the estate money — because the traditional way of making deals with managers, lawyers, etc. costs a bloody fortune.” TMZ reports as much on 2/4/2010 1:07 AM PST
A ten percent commission increase on a billionaire-to-be’s estate is not the same as ten percent on Lady Tee or Jimmy Dean’s estate. Who are these now deceased singers? That’s my point. Ticket sales for Jackson’s concerts prior to his death were off the charts, and any mediocre financial manager could have made Jackson’s assets perform if they also had a superstar’s death to springboard from. But Jackson’s former body guards said he [several years earlier] was “poorly managed.” Others say that his family were a large part of the mismanagement that surrounded Michael prior to his death. But later evidence shows the most of family had limited or no access to Jackson and therefore could not screw up his fortune. This dubious honor was done by yet unnamed handlers. So any news that says Jackson’s family has mishandle Jackson’s money is clearly unfounded.
And now time for the checkmate from the executors (nine months after Jackson’s death):
“TMZ has confirmed the Michael Jackson estate has signed the biggest deal ever in music — worth up to $250 million with a guarantee of $200 million.” TMZ 3/16/2010 5:10 AM PDT
With increasingly diminished returns as the months marched by immediately after Jackson’s death, waiting nine months to close the biggest music with Michael’s best friend Sony makes no sense for the Estate of Michael Jackson, but a ton of sense for the pockets of its executors whose duty is to look after the interest of its beneficiaries. With the courts increasing their commission structure the month before, the executors slice of the pie from the tardy deal is no less than TEN MILLION DOLLARS EACH. Both John Branca and John McClain would have then only made pennies on the dollar if they had signed the deal seven months after Jackson’s death (two months earlier), but that would have meant their would have been millions more left in the estate, slated to go to its actual beneficiaries.
And the executors’ likely excuses for not acting more quickly on the deal will no doubt be something like: “we were too busy with this and that” or “with legal problems with Joe” or “the This Is It movie…” ad nauseum…excuses that will no doubt be put forward to defend their actions, if they are ever brought to account for them. But with a hoard of lawyers and financiers doing the work for them at Michael’s expense, they simply could have stepped up and done more sooner.
The rest is spin. But the orgy continues and us supporters, yes including fans have adopted the TMZ’s subtly placed opinions and charge little ol’ Katherine, or Joe or Howard Mann or others of greed to deflect that same charge away from the executors of Jackson’s estate. And yet the executors’ tunics are stained with hog grease flowing down their wrists, onto their palms and into the pockets of their lawyer buddies or their own companies that are hired to do various tasks for the Estate.
This is a joke and WE, YES WE Jackson supporters have been played.