Paris Jackson Wants $600 Million Released From Michael Jackson's Estate: Inside the Court Fight

Paris Jackson has filed a petition in Los Angeles court asking a judge to move roughly $600 million in distributable cash from Michael Jackson’s estate into the family trust she shares with her brothers, Prince and Bigi. Her filing accuses executor John Branca of keeping the siblings“beholden to him with an iron grip”over when and if money is distributed. She also claims the three were supposed to start receiving trust payments at 21, but instead get lesser amounts that Branca decides on.

The estate is pushing back hard. Its lawyers say Michael’s will is explicit that his children don’t receive distributions until they’re in their 30s, that the trusts can’t be funded until the long-running IRS tax litigation is resolved, and that more than $200 million has already been distributed. It’s the latest chapter in a feud that’s been building for over a year, including Paris’s earlier claim that Branca tried to pay himself $100 million without proper explanation, which the estate called“absurd.”

Context matters here: Branca has managed the estate since Michael’s death in 2009 and is credited with taking it from around $500 million in debt to a valuation above $2 billion. The fight raises a bigger question about how much control executors should hold over heirs’money years after an artist is gone. So what do you think: should heirs get their money on the timeline the will sets, or does the IRS case change everything? Sound off in the comments.