Lawyer and family friend take over Jacko’s estate

MICHAEL JACKSON’S long-time lawyer and a family friend were given permission to take over running the singer’s estate by a judge last night.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff backed lawyer John Branca and music executive John McClain, who were designated in Jackson’s 2002 will. The singer’s mother, Katherine Jackson, had applied to oversee her son’s estate, but that was before the will surfaced naming Branca and McClain.

Katherine Jackson did not appear at the hearing but her lawyer, Burt Levitch, expressed concerns about the men’s financial leadership.

Levitch told Judge Beckloff that Branca had previously been removed from financial positions of authority by Jackson. Branca’s attorney said he was rehired by Jackson on June 17, days before the pop star’s death.

Branca and McClain will have to post a $1 million (€71,000) bond on the estate, the judge ruled.

Their authority over the estate will expire on August 3, when another hearing on the estate will be held.

“Mr Branca and Mr McClain for the next month are at the helm of the ship,” Judge Beckloff said.

Katherine Jackson’s attorneys had asked that she be appointed to serve as a co-administrator with Branca and McClain.

Judge Beckloff did not grant that request, but stressed that Katherine Jackson should be given complete information about major transactions, but that he, as the judge, would grant final approval.

Paul Gordon Hoffman, an attorney for Branca and McClain, said some of Katherine Jackson’s concerns were unfounded.

“We’re not aware of any real conflicts at all,” Hoffman said in response to a claim that the men may have business dealings with parties such as concert promoter AEG Live.

In contrast, Hoffman said Jackson’s mother had more of a potential conflict administering the estate because she is a likely beneficiary.

“If there are any conflicts by the parties, Katherine Jackson rather than Mr McClain and Mr Branca have them,” Hoffman said.

Jackson’s family had wanted the judge to delay the appointment of McClain and Branca, a person close to the family said.

The family wanted the delay so they could look deeper into his affairs, to see if another will emerges, and to accommodate Jackson’s memorial service today, said a person close to the family who did not wish to be named.

“She wants to know what happened to her son before appointing individuals to take over his estate worth over a billion dollars,” the person said.

The Rev Al Sharpton, a friend of the Jacksons, said on ABC’s Good Morning America yesterday: “It has been very insensitive, particularly to this family, that you would even schedule a court hearing on the status of the mother, the day before she has to go to the cemetery for her son. It’s almost insulting.

“We don’t have the answers,” Sharpton told ABC. “But we do have the questions, and we know how to make those questions loud and clear. We owe it to Michael to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Attorneys for the two men argued their appointment was crucial to controlling Jackson’s diverse financial interests and its liabilities, which include refunds due on a series of London concerts that have been cancelled and several lawsuits.