As Indiana News Center reported the family of Michael Jackson plans to fight for control of his estate and his children in Probate Court and will pursue any estate disputes that arise.
Yahoo reported that Katherine Jackson the mother of Michael Jackson will seek control of the estate and had filed documents to do so shortly after having filed documents to serve as the guardian of the three children of Michael Jackson. California Probate court will have jurisdiction regarding these matters.
California law provides if there is no will as he was not married it would pass to his children and the guardian of the children would control. Debbie Roe the mother of two of the children may seek to contest who receives custody regarding the children. She had terminated her rights to the children but then had subsequently sought to regain rights. The judge will determine what is in the best interests of the children. The 3rd child of Michael Jackson was from a surrogate who had no relationship to the child and in that case seems clear it will go to the Jackson family as they have a relationship with them and the woman never acted or was intended to be a mother to the children. The judge may determine that the interests of the mothers were waived and they belong together and with the Jackson family.
As a Fox News Fox News article points out this has some similarity to the Anna Nicole Smith situation in which a relative who had been distant was seeking custody and there was a dispute from another relative although in that case it was a lot easier decision given that there was a father who had not waived his rights. They also point out that there are rumors of Michael's mom who is in late 70s being in poor health and the court having thrown out the agreement in which Ms. Rowe waived all rights on a technicality although it was never further pursued and the consensus in this situation was given the closer relationship the family had with the children and keeping the siblings together as well as the contract it was more likely than not the Jackson family would prevail if they were considered fit. Also a former family attorney Debri Opri who assisted Larry Birkhead mentioned even if there was no will that Jackson may have otherwise legally documented who he wanted to have his children. That is a frequent reason for people with minor children especially in his situation to prepare a will though is to provide a preference for whom the guardian should be. A final note of interest was that stores have noted that his record sales have surged since his death last week and this may help the estate to pay off some of the massive $400-500 million in debt it faces.
This video on Yahoo is of a forensic pathologist who discusses what the autopsies are likely to show regarding Michael Jackson.
