Paris Jackson Challenges Legal Fees in Michael Jackson’s Estate Battle
Paris Jackson, the daughter of Michael Jackson, has taken a bold step by asking a judge to step in over what she believes is questionable handling of her father’s estate funds. In newly filed court papers, she claims that a small, tight-knit group of high-powered lawyers has been skimming money in plain sight. These attorneys, she says, have benefited from hefty, non-contractual “gifts” and delayed oversight—something she insists needs to stop for the sake of all beneficiaries, including herself and her brothers, Prince and Bigi.
The estate of Michael Jackson has been managed since his 2009 death by two executors, John Branca and John McClain. They control everything from business deals to financial distributions for the family. Paris alleges that these executors allowed significant legal fees to be paid without timely court approval. In her filing, she specifically asks the court to require detailed records for legal fees paid between 2019 and 2023, and to ensure that only partial payments are made until invoices are formally approved. She says this is “to protect the rights and interests” of the family.
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Her main concern centers around what she calls “extraordinary fees” and “lavish gratuities” to attorneys—payments of $125,000, $250,000, and even more—that were never part of any contract. She points out that beneficiaries had objected to this practice years ago, yet in 2018, after she quietly raised the issue, at least $500,000 in such gifts was still paid within months. Paris argues that the delay in seeking court approval for these payments has obscured their nature, making it difficult to track or question them. She even suggests appointing a third executor who could independently oversee the lawyers and better safeguard the estate’s finances.
On the other side, the estate’s legal team strongly denies any wrongdoing. Jonathan Steinsapir, an attorney for the estate, emphasizes that under Branca and McClain’s leadership, Michael’s estate has seen a historic turnaround, generating billions of dollars for his children. He insists that the same business judgment that led to these successes was used in compensating what he calls a “world-class legal team,” and he dismisses Paris’s lawyers’ claims as both baseless and defamatory. He expresses confidence that the court will again approve the estate’s accounting, as it has consistently done over the past sixteen years.
This latest filing follows Paris’s earlier July petition, where she objected to legal fees for work done in 2018. In that case, she also challenged $625,000 in payments for so-called “uncaptured time” by three law firms, questioning why such time wasn’t recorded properly and why full payments were made despite prior court orders to make only partial ones.
The dispute now sits in the court’s hands, with Paris pushing for greater transparency and oversight, and the estate’s lawyers standing firm that everything has been above board. It’s a clash not just over money, but over trust—and whether the King of Pop’s legacy is being protected the way it should be.
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