Michael Jackson’s will was officially filed this morning in California. Everyone is already combing through the will, which was written in 2002. It actually doesn’t seem too crazy – Michael specifies that the entirety of his assets should be assigned to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, and names three co-executors to oversee the trust. Michael specifies guardianship of his children to his mother, Katherine, which probably means that the court hearing in August for the children’s custody will most likely honor Michael’s wishes. The most interesting part is that Michael’s will has a codicil that states that if Katherine Jackson is unable to care for the kids, “I nominate Diana Ross as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children.” Diana Ross! That’s so… awesome.
Michael Jackson’s last will has been filed with the court, with a date of July 7, 2002 on it. In the document, Michael leaves everything to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, and names John Branca, John McClain and Barry Siegel as co-Executors. Branca was his lawyer, McClain a music execuive and Siegel was his former accountant, who resigned in 2003.
He also states “I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson,” and gives guardianship of his three children, Michael Jackson Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael II to his mother; however if she is unable to care for the kids, he designated Diana Ross as guardian.
“If any of my children are minors at the time of my death, I nominate my mother, Katherine Jackson as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children. If Katherine Jackson fails tot survive me, or is unable or unwilling to act as guardian, I nominate Diana Ross as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor children,” reads the will.
Alongside the will, a petition was filed, stating that MJ’s estate is worth a total of $500 million. According to the document, the estate “consists of non-cash, non-liquid assets, including primarily an interest in a catalog of music royalty rights which is currently being administered by Sony-ATV, and interests in various entities.”
[From OK! Magazine]
Diana Ross is the one name I don’t think anyone mentioned as a possible guardian for Michael’s kids. We’ve talked about Katherine Jackson, Joe Jackson, Debbie Rowe, Janet Jackson, Tito, LaToya, everybody else. But then Diana Ross came into the picture and made my day. In all seriousness, Diana Ross and Michael were lifelong friends, and she was probably the closest person Michael had to some kind of mentor/mother figure outside of his family. Diana was instrumental in the success of both the Jackson Five and Michael’s solo career, and she’s one of the few people who knew Michael who hasn’t come out and exploited their relationship in the wake of Michael’s death. She’s a great choice for guardian. Team Diana!
Here’s Diana Ross at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, on December 10th. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .
Never thought of her. But now that I think about it, it would be a good choice. At least the kids would be away from the circus of the Jacksons. We all know that it will never happen though. Katherine is def going to have custody of those kids.
WOW.. didn’t see that one coming.
Diana Ross has raised several children of her own. How did they turn out?
I would never leave my plants or kids in the charge of Diana Ross.
How badass is that??
Does Diana Ross even know about this? I guess she would have to since I don’t think anybody would make such a big decision without notifying the potential guardian.
I had always thought of her as a diva who had emotional problems of her own. Maybe I’m wrong.
At any rate, she is 66 years old. That’s still a pretty advanced age to be dealing with a 7-year-old.
Anyone is better than any Jackson family member. Sorry to say this, but i hope Katherine doesn’t live too long, because of her evil husband, dont get me wrong. Two, three years would be awsome and then the children would be delivered to Diana Ross. Joe Jackson!? Forget about the money you’re stupid a-hole! If you didn’t abused your son as a child, maybe you could have some $$$$ to invest in your new record label. What comes around goes around…
Wow, his first choice is the woman who didn’t protect him or his siblings and his second is an old woman with emotional problems of her own. But he could hardly expect to make a rational decision as he was not a rational person. I hope someone places this children with normal folks, far, far away.
Couldn’t he have named someone under the age of 50 as a guardian??? Those poor children.
I wonder how she feels about that…
I’m suprised he didnt leave them to Elizabeth Taylor, she’s not that much older than his mother…
If it is true that Debbie Rowe has still legal rights towards her children. If it is true that she tried to regain join custody in the wakening of Michael second allegaton of physical abuses, she should step in.
her or any member of her family should step in. I find it pretty offensive that not even a chance is given to the mother’s side of those children while they are given to grand mothers of 65 and 80 years old of age. And in my memory serve me well nothing offenssive has ever been written about Miss Rowe. even today she keeps a low profile only asking to respect the children’s grieving.
They need stability with a younger person or with their legal mother if the above is true. After all she did bore them, brought them into life and raised them three years until the divorce, until she was asked by Michael to let the kids with him exclusevily and paid for it. Both Michael and her were wrong doing this not thinking to the least at the best interest of the children which is keeping contact with their mother. If she want to take her children back even partially like she tried to in 2005, she should step in now.
What would happen if Katherine died,and Diana didn’t want them?
We ne’er hear about Diana’s daughters in the tabloids so this may be a good choice… if she’s cleaned up her act (remember the DUI last year or the year before?).
Not that it matters, but wasn’t Diana not too long ago caught with drugs at an airport?
LOL @ Debbie getting nothing more. Awesome! Neither does Joseph…freaking superb!
R.I.P. MJ.
Good choice. He does have a positive history with her. I believe she has five children, (adults) all doing well.
The trust will have ample funds for a nanny, certainly needed at present, Katherine’s close to 80.
Diana Ross’ kids are doing great! I attended Brown University with her two eldest daughters in the 90’s, and they both seemed very level-headed. I used to see Tracee at the local laundromat! Both are very talented actresses (Rhonda was on Another World and Tracee was the star of Girlfriends plus several films). I believe Rhonda is happily married. To me, Diana Ross seems like an excellent choice!
I think Angelina and Brad should get them…lol.
In September 1999, Ross caught people off guard when she grabbed Lil’ Kim’s breast at the MTV Music Awards, an incident regarded as one of the signs of her suspected substance-abuse troubles.
Days after the MTV incident, Ross got into a scuffle with a security guard before boarding the Concorde at London’s Heathrow Airport. Ross reportedly grabbed the guard’s breast after the guard touched hers during a pat-down search
Entered Malibu, CA drug and alcohol rehab Promises center May 20, 2002 prior to start of global summer tour.
In December of 2002 she was arrested in Arizona for driving drunk, resulting in jail time and treatment for alcohol abuse. Ross, 58, was stopped in Tucson for driving the wrong way on a street. She failed sobriety tests and is charged with three misdemeanors.
She reportedly fell over while trying to complete a field sobriety test that involved walking in a straight line, counting and reciting the alphabet. Her blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.20. The limit at which drivers are considered intoxicated in Tucson is 0.08.
What terrible choices for guardianshipo of these poor kids, Katherine who enable abuse and a substance abuser.
This shows me he was not capable of making wise decisions.
@Beth: Believe it or not, I actually know of a case where the parents named a guardian without consulting the guardian. The parents died in a car accident and the person they named as guardian refused to take the child. The poor kid ended up in foster care.
Asking someone to care for your child in the event you die or become incapacitated is asking them to take on an enormous responsibility and nobody should assume that just because somebody is close to you that they are willing to take the responsibility.
I don’t know why people think Debbie Rowe should have custody. She got a big settlement to stay out of their lives. That says to me that she doesn’t want these kids. I don’t think she’s seen them or had contact with Michael since the divorce.
Diana is not fit for those children, she is so mean,with emotional problems as stated above, also, Debbie? really? on CNN yesterday, it was reported that she tried to sale those children already, the Jackson adult children, with the exception of la toya all have their own families and are doing really great with stable homes and money of their own, none of the brothers and their children ever been in trouble with the law and like Joe said the other day, they have kids to play with, Joe have lived in Vegas for years and CNN reported he has mellowed and he and Michael had a great relationship the past few years.
let the jolie pitts be the guardian pls!hehe
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if someone wasn’t able to contest this will on the basis of sanity.
re: Debbie, to me it seems obvious that she was just a womb-for-hire
It does strike me as odd that none of the siblings were identified, as I thought he and Janet were close.
Now, the man wasn’t *that* far out! Diana Ross is a great person, and for sure a better parent than one who gave those kids away without being in need of doing so, or too young and naive to raise them.
I don’t know why people think Debbie Rowe should have custody. She got a big settlement to stay out of their lives. That says to me that she doesn’t want these kids. I don’t think she’s seen them or had contact with Michael since the divorce.
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Maybe because if she is to be blame for that settlement, Michael is equally responsible for offering that agreement for her to walk out. No woman who wants to abandon her kids will ask money for it, she will just go. If she did, then she was paid to do it and Michael shared that responsability which for me doesn’t qualifies him as the better parent when he traded the best interest of his children which would involved guaranteeing they stay in contact with their mum and share joint custody.
She isn’t a mother who has just decided to walk out one day, she is a mum who has been bribed to move out the house and to relinquish her rights to Michael Jackson so that the he could raise the children alone in his own terms.
In 2005, she went to the Court to get her rights back and was told that the agreement she signed was quida illegal and not validated by a Court, since it’s a Court that decides and motivateS the reason why you should be stripped of your parental rights. The Court said that her rights were safe and that she was still the legal mother of those children. Rumors are that the Jacksons as of three days ago said that they won’t oppose her to see her children as she is their mother…they know better why they CAN’T oppose that eventhough they did it in 2005 when she tried to get back the joint custody.
My take is if someone as bizarre as Michael Jackson who was high on drugs (he even supposedly fell in a coma in front of his own son) could raise those children in a bizarre way where they could not go outside without a mask,where they could stumble in any drug, where they didn’t got schooled, how come their own mother who raised them during the first three years after being bribed to back off and be cut out of their life, who tried to get her rights back and who except that agreement didn’t demonstrated any insane behaviour even today, why should she be automatically dismissed as a guardian (evben partially)when everyone thought that someone as unstable as Michael could have the exclusive right of raising them ?
Rowe seems stable and more normal emotionally than he was. Rowe is also beleived to share a bio lineage, is younger than the supposed guardian, has family who could even help raising their siblings. And last, Rowe is still the legal direct parent still alive. She has rights as their legal mother and should at least be offered the option to perform her rights as amum even residually if she ask for it. Those children would probably be raised with more ‘normalcy’ with her anyway.
“Is it a “testament to talent”? Really? I can’t tell, because reading any story about Michael Jackson makes me a little sick to my stomach. Yes, when I was little I had Thriller, and I danced to it constantly. I knew all the words to all the songs. That was back when Michael was a musical genius, but should that genius allow him to get away with doing any depraved thing he wants? Yes, he made some great albums, but I wouldn’t want to hear any of it today. Am I the only one?”
by Kaiser
You Hypocrite, please stop posting anything related to MJ, aren’t you sick to your stomach?
When he’s alive you found him guilty all by yourself. Now he’s dead, and you go all RIPing?
I was wondering why Michael would name Diana Ross as his children’s guardian after Katherine Jackson, instead of one of his siblings, but after reading the article below, it looks as if Michael not only hated Joe Jackson, he hated most of his siblings as well. Check out the link below (it may take a while to load). It’s a real eye-opener.
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nypost.com%2Fseven%2F03232008%2Fnews%2Fnationalnews%2Fjacko_clan_in_a_deep_funk_103188.htm
Wooowww! It really opened my eyes. What a family, i must say!!!
mj,trusted miss ross,she was there from the beginning,michael even lived with her for a while,she is an incredibly wealthy lady who has been a superstar for 50 years,his kids would be well protected by her and not exploited,she has been a fabulous mother to her own five succsesful children,and for the sad people who say miss ross is a bad choice as guardien well i suppose you losers are perfect,when miss ross was having problems she was going through a painful period in her life,divorce from a husband she still loved,viva miss ross a great and classy lady and a true living legend.