Michael Jackson’s Estate Reacts to Paris Jackson Opposing Payouts

Closing out their response, Branca and McClain called out Jackson for objecting to the payments—made in 2018—more than a year after they were brought to her attention.

As the document put it, “The untimely nature of the Objections should lead the Court to summarily overrule them.”

E! News reached out to reps for Jackson, as well as to Branca and McClain for comment but has not heard back. 

Last month, Jackson—who,  along with her brothers Prince Jackson, 28, and Bigi “Blanket” Jackson, 23, is a beneficiary of her father’s financial assets—filed a petition in court alleging that her dad’s estate had failed to “provide adequate responses” as to why it allocated $625,000 in “premium payouts” to three law firms for unrecorded attorney time in 2018. 

“Even worse, these payments appear, at least in part, to consist of lavish gratuities bestowed upon already well-compensated counsel,” the June 24 filing, which was obtained by E!, said. “Worse still, at least two of these law firms already have received their respective Premium Payment in full, in violation of the Court’s order allowing only partial payment of attorneys’ fees until Court approval is obtained.”

And Jackson, 27, said her concern over the payments had cast doubt on her belief that Branca and McClain were well-suited for their roles. 

“These irregular payments raise serious and substantial questions about Executors’ ability to effectively supervise counsel by, at minimum, requiring that counsel record their time in a manner susceptible to at least superficial review and oversite,” the document said, “namely by means of task-billed time entries, and refraining from wasteful, six-figure gift-giving to themselves and their colleagues.”

She added, “In sum, as explained further below, these so-called Premium Payments are problematic because they are: (1) not connected to any recorded attorney time billed to the Estate, (2) constitute unsolicited gifts; and (3) were fully paid long ago.”

The court has yet to rule on the matter. 

For more on the Jackson family over the years, keep reading.