Paris Jackson Asks Court to Move $600 Million From Michael Jackson Estate Into Family Trust
Paris Jackson has asked a Los Angeles court to order about $600 million moved from her father's estate into a family trust. She filed the petition on Oct. 29, and Billboard reported the filing on Nov. 3.
The trust is meant to benefit Paris and her siblings, Prince Jackson, 29, and Bigi Jackson, 24. Her filing argues that John Branca, the estate's executor, has "done nothing" to fund it. Her lawyers also accuse Branca of keeping beneficiaries under an "iron grip" over when money is paid out. An executor is the person charged with managing a estate's assets, paying its debts and carrying out a will. Branca has run the estate since Michael Jackson died in 2009.
The estate has given its own account. It said the disputed trusts cannot be funded until a legal fight with the US tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service, over the estate's tax bill is resolved. It also said more than $200 million has already been distributed to Paris and her siblings. Michael Jackson's will, the estate said, provides that none of his children receive a distribution until they are in their 30s.
Paris's filing tells a different timeline. It says the three siblings were supposed to begin receiving payments from the family trust on their 21st birthdays. It also puts numbers on the estate's money: $850 million in cash in December 2024, and roughly $600 million in distributable cash now. Distributable cash means what is left after debts and liabilities are paid.
The estate has been in probate court, the court that supervises how a will is carried out, for more than 17 years. Paris is also challenging a $109 million fee that Branca has requested, and she wants a judge to slash or reduce it, according to Rolling Stone. In May, she won a court ruling requiring the estate to return $625,000 in improper bonuses paid to three outside law firms.
The estate's value has also been tied to its music. In February 2024, the estate sold music rights to Sony at a valuation of more than $1.2 billion, as Billboard reported at the time.
What happens next is set for a date. A Los Angeles judge is scheduled to consider Paris's $600 million request on Dec. 4, 2026. Until then, the core question is when the siblings can expect payments, and whether the tax dispute and the court process will allow the trust to be funded.
