Forbes: The Boring Truth About Michael Jackson’s Will

Forbes has a new article about the recent controversies within the Jackson family regarding the validity of Michael Jackson’s will:

Three years after his death, Michael Jackson is still making headlines. This summer, his will has become the focus of discussions. Some of his sisters and brothers have called it fake and fabricated, and the Michael Foundation has responded to them: “Recounting false and insulting claims rooted in internet conspiracy theories, by certain members of Michael’s family whose names are not mentioned in the will, has saddened and depressed us.”

Those stirring up controversy will be disappointed, but the boring truth about Michael Jackson’s will is that from a legal standpoint, the document’s validity is not in danger, and no big scandal headline is going to land in newspapers.

Last week, Forbes received a copy of the latest version of the will from the Los Angeles Superior Court (as other news agencies had previously obtained it) and compared it with three older versions. All these wills match each other and confirm this boring truth: nothing threatens this document, and even if the current will is declared invalid, it will be replaced by an older will that has exactly the same provisions as the current one.

The 1995 will names John Branca, Bert Mitchell, and Marshall Gelfand as trustees of the Foundation. It states that Michael’s wealth after his death should be entrusted to an entity called the “Michael Jackson Family Trust.” 20% of this wealth is distributed among several charitable organizations, and the rest goes to his mother, Katherine, and/or Michael’s children (if he has any). After Katherine’s death, her share will be distributed among Michael’s children.

The second version of the will was prepared on December 10, 1997. In this document, John Branca and Bert Mitchell are introduced as trustees, and Marshall Gelfand is replaced by a banker named Jane Heller. The distribution of wealth in this will is exactly the same as the first will. Michael’s first child, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (Prince Michael), was born on February 13, 1997, and his name is mentioned in the will. According to this document, 20% of the wealth goes to charitable foundations, and the remainder is divided between Katherine and Michael’s children.

The third version of the will was signed in March 2002, after Michael’s third and last child, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson (Blanket), was born on February 21 of that year. Before that, Paris Michael Katherine was born on April 3, 1998. In this version, Blanket is not mentioned by name, but the wealth distribution model is like the previous wills, stating that wealth is divided among charities, Katherine, and also equally among Michael’s children.

Four months later, the fourth and final version of the will was prepared on July 7, 2002. The distribution of wealth in it is exactly the same as in the previous versions, and it names all three of Michael’s children. In this will, John Branca and John McClain are introduced as trustees of the Michael Jackson Foundation. 20% of Michael’s wealth goes to several charitable organizations whose names are kept confidential, and the rest is divided equally among Michael’s three children. Of course, Katherine also receives a share of this wealth during her lifetime.

Some family members say that on the day Michael signed the will, he was in New York, while the signature on the will states that the location was Los Angeles.

On a page of the will, it is written that this document was signed at 5:00 PM on July 7 in Los Angeles. Michael had traveled to New York on July 6 to take part in a protest against Tommy Mottola, the former head of Sony, and he was accompanied by Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist for Black people. On July 8, another gathering with Sharpton and Jannie Cochran related to the same issue was held in that city. So Michael was in New York on July 6 and July 8—but what about July 7? There is no photo of him that shows he was in New York on that day.

However, according to California state law, the date and/or location written on the will being different in any way does not in any way affect the document’s validity, because it’s simply possible to claim that the date or location of the signature was entered incorrectly. If a document’s date is wrong, does it invalidate the document? No, not at all—in fact, there’s no real need to include a date.

After Michael’s death, this will was accepted by the court, and all witnesses swore that it was signed by Michael Jackson. In addition, the legal deadline for contesting the will had ended.

Even if we assume that this will—or the last three wills—are invalid, the first will referenced would be used, and John Branca, whose name appears in all four of these wills, would take control of the Michael Foundation. 20% of his wealth would go to charitable organizations, and the rest would be divided between Katherine and Michael’s children. If all four wills were invalidated, then under the law, Michael’s three children would be his only heirs once they reached 18 years of age, and Katherine and the charitable organizations would receive nothing.

If a newer will of Michael exists, it would replace the fourth document—but it would be very unreasonable to assume that someone has this will and hasn’t mentioned it for three years, or to ask whether we can accept that someone who was so close to Michael and trusted enough to keep his will would not have been informed after three years of his death and would still be holding the document in trust? Meanwhile, none of Michael’s partners or his lawyers have such a document, and none of these people have mentioned the possibility of a fifth will.

Another old piece of news is that Michael’s father, Joe Jackson, does not receive any share of Michael’s wealth. His name is not mentioned in any of these four wills. He questioned the will’s validity, but Judge Beckloff ultimately told him: “Joe Jackson, you have no share in this wealth, and this is a decision your son made.” The judge appointed John Baranca and John McClain as trustees of the Foundation according to the will. Katherine dropped her objections and expressed her support for these two people.

Over the three years since Michael’s death, his Foundation has generated half a billion dollars in revenue, largely due to a $60 million contract for the film This Is It, a $250 million contract (the largest recording contract in history) with Sony for releasing Michael’s albums, and a contract with Cirque du Soleil for the Immortal tour—an event that was the highest-grossing North American tour and earned more than $75 million.

Michael Jackson’s income during these three years was higher than the income of any living or deceased artist, and it’s not expected that we’ll see any structural change in how his Foundation is managed anytime soon.

Source: eMJey.com / Forbes