The youngest son of the late King of Pop asks that his grandmother not be reimbursed $500k in legal fees after she appealed the court's decision that allows the executors to sell part of the singer's catalog.
- Mar 21, 2024
AceShowbiz - Michael Jackson's son is at odds with his own grandmother. Blanket Jackson is filing a petition to block Katherine Jackson's attempt to get reimbursed her attorney's fees after she fought the executors of Michael's estate over the sale of his catalog.
Katherine and the executors, John Branca and John McClain, have been fighting for over a year over the decision to sell one-half of the singer's music catalog to Sony for $600 million. The executors asked the court to approve the deal in 2022, but Katherine asked the court not to sign it off, claiming her late son would not have wanted the catalog sold off.
The executors argued Katherine had previously objected to deals that turned out to be lucrative and that the deal proposed would be extremely beneficial to Michael's children Prince, Paris and Blanket. Paris and Blanket supported their grandmother, while their brother Prince said he was on board with the deal.
The court eventually sided with the executors and approved the deal. Katherine later filed an appeal that argued the executors had no authority to sell off the asset, a claim that the executors scoffed at. As part of the appeal, Katherine won a couple of small wins while the case is still pending.
In a recent motion, Katherine sought to be reimbursed $561,548 from MJ's estate on her legal fees associated with the appeal. In his response, Blanket said he opposed Katherine's request for $500k despite supporting her during the court hearing over the catalog sale. His lawyer admitted Blanket opposed the deal.
However, in court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the lawyer said, "[Blanket] did not appeal the Court's ruling. It was apparent that the Court was acting within its discretionary powers to grant the Petition for Instructions. The chances of a reversal on appeal were quite slim and [Blanket] did not wish to incur further expense in pursuing an appeal."
"Despite the expense and long odds, Katherine decided to pursue an appeal," the lawyer added. "[Blanket] prays that this Court deny Katherine's fees and costs incurred to appeal," the motion added. "It would be unfair to make those beneficiaries shoulder this burden when they expressly decided an appeal would not be in their best interests."
Blanket said Katherine should be paid her legal fees before the appeal but not for work done on the appeal, which he doesn't agree with.
Meanwhile, the executors also asked that Katherine's petition be denied. They argued, "The Petition does not indicate the source from which Mrs. Jackson's counsel seeks to have the requested attorney's fees and expenses paid. It is not clear whether she is seeking payment from the probate estate or from the Trust."
Further, the executors said, "To the extent Mrs. Jackson seeks payment from the probate estate, the Petition lacks merit because it relies on provisions of the Trust," claiming that payment of legal fees is required by provisions of the Trust authorizing the Trustees to make payments "in [their] absolute discretion, for [Mrs. Jackson's] care, support, maintenance, comfort and well-being."
Recently, the executors said Katherine receives a seven-figure allowance for the year, which would cover her legal fees for the appeal. A judge has yet to rule on her request.
