Earlier this year, Katherine Jackson, mother of Michael Jackson made headlines when she sued her late son’s estate for legal fees. At the time, she stated that she had racked up more than $500,000 in legal fees while fighting to stop the estate from making a confidential and lucrative deal. That lucrative deal was a move to sell the King of Pop’s catalog to Sony for $600 million. She claimed the deal broke the terms of her son’s will. More recently, a judge ruled in favor of the estate’s executors, okaying the deal.
John Branca and John McClain, the executors of Jackson’s estate have been working on this deal since 2022. Despite Mrs. Jackson’s protests, a California court previously approved the sale. Mrs. Jackson appealed the decision. Now, a California appellate court has affirmed the lower court’s ruling, according to Digital Music News.
[RELATED: Michael Jackson’s Mother Wants His Estate to Pay Her Six-Figure Legal Fees After Fighting to Block “Lucrative Deal”]
The Appellate Court Ruling on Michael Jackson’s Estate
The ruling called the $600 million deal with Sony a “joint venture” and stated that Branca and McClain had the right to broker the deal because Jackson’s estate is still in probate. The three-judge appellate panel stated, that the deal involved “transferring a significant portion of the estate’s assets to a joint venture between the estate and a third party, in exchange for a large cash payment and interest in the joint venture.” Further, the panel stated that Jackson’s will gives executors “broad powers to manage estate property” as long as the estate remains in probate. Thus, the deal did not go against the terms of the will.
The deal “neither diminishes the estate’s value nor impairs the executor’s future ability to transfer the estate’s assets to the trust,” the panel further stated.
Why Mrs. Jackson Fought the Sale
Jackson’s estate has been in probate since his death in 2009 due to a large tax debt and other issues with the IRS. After those issues are cleared and the probate closes, the estate’s assets will go into a trust. The trust names Jackson’s three children as principal beneficiaries. Additionally, Mrs. Jackson is named as a lifetime beneficiary of a sub-trust. After she dies, the remainder of her share of the estate will be transferred to the main trust.
{RELATED: Michael Jackson Owed a Staggering $500 Million When He Passed in 2009]
Mrs. Jackson opposed the deal because she claimed that selling the estate’s “most valuable asset” to a third party would violate the terms of her late son’s will. She also claimed that it would make transferring the estate to the trust impossible.
Featured Image by Eszter Gordon/Shutterstock
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