Paris Jackson has filed a court petition demanding that $600 million (£447 million) from her late father Michael Jackson's estate be transferred to a family trust for his children. The musician, 28, submitted the petition at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming that since Michael's death in 2009, the estate has generated billions of dollars.
The petition states: "More than seventeen years after his passing, Michael Jackson’s family trust remains unfunded." The trust was established to provide for Michael's three children—Prince, 29, Paris, and Bigi, 24—who were due to begin receiving income from their respective shares when they turned 21.
Trust Distribution Terms
According to the filing, the siblings were also meant to begin receiving portions of the money held for them when they turned 30, with more at the ages of 35 and 40. Paris is asking a Los Angeles judge to order a partial distribution of the estate's assets to the Michael Jackson Family Trust.
The documents, viewed by the Mirror, state: "Michael also intended for each sibling to begin receiving outright principal distributions from the Trust on their respective thirtieth birthdays. That milestone is fast approaching. Prince turns 30 in four months, Paris turns 29 in April, and Bigi turns 25 in February."
Estate Assets and Sales
The 14-page document claims that the executors liquidated a substantial portion of Michael's assets over time, despite initially boasting about avoiding "the conventional approach" of selling assets to pay off debts. The trust provides that "as soon as reasonably practical after the death of Trustor [Michael], the Trustee shall distribute a sum equal to twenty per cent of Trustor's gross estate, as valued for federal estate tax purposes" to charitable organisations benefiting children's causes.
The remaining assets are split evenly between two separate trusts: the Michael Jackson Children's Trust and the Katherine Jackson Trust. On Katherine's passing, the remaining balance is to be distributed to the Michael Jackson Children's Trust. Katherine, 96, is Michael's mother.
Paris's legal team argues that business deals and property sales have generated substantial funds for the estate, including the sale of Neverland Ranch for $22 million (£16.3 million) in 2020. The petition notes that executors previously valued the estate at between $2 and $3 billion. In 2016, Sony Music Holdings exercised its right to purchase the estate's interest in Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, which owned publishing rights to the Beatles catalogue of over 200 songs plus tracks by other artists.
Estate Response
The documents state that as of December 2024, the estate held around $850 million in cash or cash-equivalent assets, with approximately $600 million in distributable cash after accounting for potential liabilities. Paris demands the court make "a preliminary distribution of Estate assets to the Michael Jackson Family Trust in the amount of $600 million, or such amount as determined by the Court to be appropriate and reasonable" minus fees and costs.
When approached by the Mirror, the Estate of Michael Jackson said: "Ms. Jackson's counsel is well aware that the Estate is prevented from fully funding the charitable foundation and the individual trusts for the beneficiaries until several legal hurdles have been removed, including in particular, the ongoing IRS litigation, where they sought $700 million in taxes and penalties from the Estate. While we were able to secure a ruling to significantly reduce that amount, the matter has not been settled and could still change. Further, the claim that the executor has withheld or 'cut' payments is a complete fabrication. More than $200 million has already been distributed to or for the benefit of Paris and the other beneficiaries."
Paris's team told the Mirror: "The Estate is once again deflecting from its own incompetence. Paris called for the trust to be partially funded, something Mr. Branca had the ability and obligation to do long ago. After years of delay, Paris had no choice but to step in herself."
