Los Angeles (E! Online) – We pretty much knew the basic details of was going to be in Michael Jackson's will based on the scant details that trickled out yesterday.
One bombshell excepted.
The five-page, seven-year-old document, signed on July 7, 2002, was filed in Los Angeles court this morning. In it, the King of Pop gives custody of his three children to mother Katherine, and stipulates that all his estate and assets—which, as previously reported, hovered around $567 million in 2007, with a net worth of $236.6 million—be placed in the private Michael Jackson Family Trust.
As for that surprise…
In the document, Jackson names Diana Ross as his choice for alternate guardian of his kids in the event his now 80-year-old mother was unable to raise them.
"If any of my children are minors at the time of my death, I nominate my mother, Katherine Jackson as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children.
"If Katherine Jackson fails to survive me, or is unable or unwilling to act as guardian, I nominate Diana Ross as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children."
It's unclear if the choice is as much news to Ross as the rest of the world or if Michael Jackson had ever approached her about the responsibility.
The former Supreme certainly never let on, as the statement she released in the wake of her former Motown stable mate and Wiz costar's death simply said she was "in prayer for his kids and the family."
Also name-checked in the will is the (recently disputed) mother of his eldest two children, Deborah Rowe, of whom Jackson writes: "I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife."
According to the will, Jackson's estate "consists of non-cash, non-liquid assets, including primarily an interest in a catalog of music royalty rights which is currently being administered by Sony-ATV, and interests in various entities."
The document was written up by the late star's longtime lawyer John Branca and veteran music exec andfamily friend John McClain, both of whom were named as the will's executors.
"The most important element of Michael's will is his unwavering desire that his mother, Katherine, become thelegal guardian for his three children," Branca and McClain said in a joint statement.
"As we work to carry out Michael's instructions to safeguard both the future of his children as well as the remarkable legacy he left us as an artist we ask that all matters involving his estate be handled with the dignity and the respect that Michael and his family deserve."
While the will was originally expected to be filed in court yesterday afternoon, it didn't make it to the courthouse until this morning to give the Jackson family time to review the document.
—Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum
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1 comment:
here it starting to come...all the lies about diana and katherine....they are not fueding...diana is sitting back and watching....she will step in when she feels that michaels kids need her...nothing wrong with that...michael saw that diana raised 5 respectful....children herself and would be the one...she wont need thier money she has her own!
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