The executors of Michael Jackson’s estate revealed they had to deal with “issues” related to one of the King of Pop’s ex-wives as they made a plea for legal fees.
Last week, Jackson’s daughter Paris raised concerns about payments made from her father’s estate.
Some of that concern centered on payments to law firms for “unrecorded attorney time” in 2018, which meant it was unclear exactly what lawyers were being paid for.
In a legal filing from February 2025 seen by Us Magazine, the estate’s executors attorney John Branca and A&R executive John McClain detailed what one of the law firms was tasked with.
That work included “addressing issues relating to Michael Jackson’s former spouse,” although the filing did not specify which of the pop star’s former wives was involved.
Jackson was married twice, to Lisa Marie Presley from 1994 to 1996 and to Debbie Rowe, the mother of Paris and her brother Prince, from 1996 to 2000.
The firm also addressed “a claim made regarding alleged ownership of rights obtained by a bankruptcy proceeding involving [Jackson’s parents] Joseph and Katherine Jackson.”
Another issue dealt with by lawyers was a dispute with Jackson’s former manager and financial advisor Tohme Tohme.
Tohme claimed he was owed over $5 million for work done between 2007 and 2009. The claim was headed to trial in 2018 before the parties came to a $3 million settlement.
Branca and McClain are requesting the court sign off on the legal fees incurred by the estate.
Paris Jackson filed an objection over the request last week. The 27-year-old is one of the King of Pop’s three children. After he died in 2009, she became one of the beneficiaries of his estate along with her brothers Prince and Bigi. Her grandmother Katherine was also provided for in Jackson’s will.
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Her lawyer wrote: “During this one six-month period alone in 2018, Executors request that the Court approve $625,000 in payments to three law firms for what they say is uncaptured time, without explanation as to why counsel was incapable of recording unbilled time, or why such a failure should not preclude payment.”
The lawyer continued: “Even worse, these payments appear, at least in part, to consist of lavish gratuities bestowed upon already well-compensated counsel.”
Jackson’s legal team argued that the payments reflect poorly on the executors of the estate, writing: “These irregular payments raise serious and substantial questions about Executors’ ability to effectively supervise counsel… and refraining from wasteful, six-figure gift-giving to themselves and their colleagues.”
The filing added: “Despite repeated inquiries from the Court, Executors are unable to provide even remotely satisfactory explanation for their delay, nor have they provided the beneficiaries any sort of plan to fix this ongoing and worsening issue.”
Last August, it was reported that Jackson’s estate had been given the go-ahead by a Los Angeles appeals court to sell a portion of the late pop icon’s songs to Sony Music Group for about $600 million.
