Michael Jackson passed away back in 2009 after suffering a cardiac arrest because of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication. Following his passing, the distribution of his estate was a major topic of debate, with many wondering how it would be distributed between his family.While the singer was one of the biggest pop icons of the time, and had an extensive music catalog that many wanted to buy out, it was revealed that he owed millions to many creditors and was in serious debt. After this, attorney John Branca and executive John McClain were handed over the handling of the singer’s estate. Since then, it has been in a wide disarray, with Jackson’s family members fighting for their rights. Here is a look at all that has gone down with the King of Pop’s estate.
Assets from Michael Jackson’s estate, which have been sold off
Over the past year, the two handlers have been equipped to manage the singer’s estate and all of the assets that come under its branch. Well, most of the singer’s music catalog is still under their ownership. Around 50% of it was sold off to one of the biggest music labels in the world. Not only that, but in the 1980s Jackson had also bought the publishing rights for the Beatles’ music, which was also sold to the same label. Other than that, in 2022, Neverland Ranch was sold to billionaire Ronald Burkle, who was a close friend of the ‘Thriller’ singer.
Michael Jackson’s estate beneficiaries and the legal dispute with Paris Jackson
When the estate was given to John Branca and John McClain, Jackson’s three children, Bigi, Prince, and his only daughter, Paris, were named as the beneficiaries of the estate. This is where the main legal dispute starts. Paris Jackson has been alleging on multiple occasions that the executors of the will have been ‘skimming’ money as per her statement, and there have been a lot of irregular payments that were promised to her as a beneficiary.There are a lot of other aspects included in the legal battle, which also includes Bigi Jackson blocking his grandmother from using the estate funds for a legal dispute regarding Jackson’s catalog sale to the famed label. He filed an official motion for the matter in March 2024, with the filing alleging that Katherine had received her promised funds, including USD 55 million since the singer’s passing, and USD 33 million cash in monthly allowances.
Paris Jackson’s concerns over the estate’s actions regarding her father’s funds
In July 2025, Paris Jackson officially raised concerns over how the executors were handling her father’s estate and catalog. The concerns came almost a year after Branca and McClain had filed a petition seeking legal authorization to pay several law firms. At the time, they had cited that they had undergone a lot of issues ever since they started handling the estate because of Jackson’s owed debt and the interest.In Paris’ filing, she alleged that payments were not being made on time and that they were asking for financial assistance for unrecorded attorney time as well. A statement from her 2025 filing read, “These irregular payments raise serious and substantial questions about the executor’s ability to effectively supervise counsel… and refraining from wasteful, six-figure gift-giving to themselves and their colleagues.”A few months later in August, she filed another petition for a judge to intervene in the matter. As per her statement at the time, Paris had alleged that a group of lawyers at the time had been skimming money from the estate. Legal reporestation for the estate issued a response statement alleging that her claims were baseless and that they are confident that the judge will reject the petition.
Judge rules against Paris Jackson’s claims
In November last year, Los Angeles Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff ruled on an official filing in the matter and ruled against all of the claims that Paris had made in her previous petitions. Following this official ruling, Paris and her legal representatives at the time issued a statement talking about how they will not be giving up on the fight for her father’s estate and the executors’ actions throughout the past 16 years.In a report by PEOPLE, Paris alleged in the same month that Branca’s law firm had received a payment of USD 10 million. This had been allegedly double the amount that any of the beneficiaries of the estate had received that year from the estate. She also raised concerns over Miles Teller playing Branca in the film ‘Michael.’The statement about the matter read “It appears that Mr Branca used his position as an Executive Producer, a role he has never before performed in connection with any dramatic feature film, to cast the sole A-list actor in the production, Miles Teller, to play himself in the upcoming feature production Michael.”
Paris Jackson officially wins legal dispute
On May 13, it was reported that a judge had ruled in favour of Paris Jackson’s appeal. As per the ruling, the two executors were also requested to pay USD 625,000 in bonuses back to the estate that were given to law firms back in 2018. PEOPLE reported that the official petition read that “Ms. Jackson’s objection to the $625,000 of bonus payments made in the second six months of 2018 is sustained. The bonus payments are not approved; they are disallowed. The payments shall be returned to the estate.”
