In the latest twist in their ongoing legal battle, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson has fired back at his son Bigi, formerly known as Deken.
The issue stems from a “recent transaction” conducted by John Branca and John McClain, the executors of Michael’s estate – apparently their sale of half of the singer’s publishing companies and recorded masters to Sony for $600 million .
Michael’s three children Bigi, 22, Paris, 25, and Prince, 27, were apparently in favor of the sale, while Katherine has appealed it.
Bigi has argued that his grandmother should pay her own legal fees for the appeal rather than have the estate cover them.
However, in a new application obtained by PeopleKatherine claims the estate, worth $1.5 billion, can and should pay her legal fees.
In the latest twist in their ongoing legal battle, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine has fired back at his son Bigi, formerly known as Deken; Bigi is pictured in October 2022
The problem stems from a “recent transaction” undertaken by John Branca and John McClain, the executors of Michael’s estate – apparently the catalog sale to Sony
Michael’s three children Bigi, 22, Paris, 25, and Prince, 27, were apparently in favor of the sale, while Katherine has appealed it; Katherine is pictured in Geneva in 1993
Katherine receives a grant from a sub-trust established by Michael’s will, but is not a direct beneficiary of her late son’s actual estate.
Apparently, she has racked up around half a million dollars in legal fees in her pending appeal against the sale of Sony.
In Bigi’s appeal, his lawyers argued that it was not helpful to the estate to fund Katherine’s appeal, which they say is unlikely to succeed anyway.
“It is abundantly clear that a reversal on appeal would be an extreme gamble,” said part of the appeal, which was filed March 18.
“Given those odds, Bigi decided not to waste his resources on participating in an appeal. Nevertheless, Katherine has decided to appeal the court’s ruling. That decision is not in favor of the heirs.’
However, Bigi left the door open to covering “reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs” for the process of presenting “essential evidence” during her initial objection to the sale.
Not mollified, Katherine fired back with a legal response on March 20, denouncing the estate’s alleged lack of funds.
Her filing stated in part that “it seems clear to (Katherine) that the executor controls all assets in the estate in order to maintain control over them and to avoid the more liberal distribution requirements of the trust.”
Michael’s estate has come under renewed scrutiny amid long-running allegations that he sexually abused children; he and Katherine are photographed outside the trial in 2005
Michael, pictured in London in 1987, died in 2009 aged 50 from cardiac arrest after being administered Propofol as a sleep aid
She ruled that “the executors cannot in good faith argue that the estate does not have sufficient available funds to enable the trust to make the requested payment.”
She said the estate could pay its legal expenses without “loss to creditors or harm to the estate or any interested party.”
Katherine’s filing added: “This far exceeds potential liabilities, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars available for the remaining beneficiaries.”
Michael died in 2009 at the age of 50 from cardiac arrest after administering Propofol as a sleeping aid.
He left all his money to his three children and to Katherine, who took custody of Prince, Paris and Deken, all of whom were minors when Michael died.
His legacy has come under renewed scrutiny in recent years amid long-running allegations that he sexually abused children.
Although Michael was acquitted in 2005, the accusations continued in the public square, including in the 2019 docuseries Leaving Neverland.
