King of Pop’s Will Reportedly Grants Custody of Children to Jackson’s Mother
Asssociated Press
June 30, 2009
FOXNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529620,00.html
LOS ANGELES  —  Michael Jackson’s will gives guardianship over his children to the singer’s mother and leaves all his assets in a trust fund, a person with knowledge of the document told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The word came just a day after the family said in court documents it believed the entertainer had died without a valid will and moved to take control over his estate.

The will was signed on July 7, 2002, and named as executors Jackson’s longtime lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the topic. The Jackson family and its lawyers are reviewing the document, the person said.

According to a statement given to CNN’s “Larry King Live” on behalf of Branca and McClain, the two men are carrying out Jackson’s wishes and “it is their sincere desire that Michael’s affairs be handled with dignity and respect.”

That designation complicates a petition by Jackson’s mother Katherine to become the administrator of his lucrative, but debt-encumbered estate.

In documents filed in Superior Court on Monday, Jackson’s parents say they believe their 50-year-old son died “intestate,” or without a valid will.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted 79-year-old Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of his three children, who range in age from 7 to 12.

He also gave her control over some of her son’s personal property that is now in the hands of an unnamed third party. But the judge did not immediately rule on her requests to take charge of the children’s and Jackson’s estates.

Experts said the personal bankruptcy of Jackson’s parents in 1999 could work against Katherine taking control of the estate.

Court documents show Katherine and Joe Jackson filed for Chapter 7 and listed nearly $24 million in debts that included court judgments, auto loans and credit cards. The only valuable asset listed was a house in Las Vegas then valued at $290,000. The bankruptcy was terminated in March 2007, but the documents gave no further details.

“I think it would be a negative factor but not necessarily a disqualifier,” said Beth Kaufman, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney specializing in estate tax issues. “It could indicate that she is not capable of sound financial management.”

Jackson was recently in shaky financial health. In the most detailed account yet of the singer’s tangled financial empire, documents obtained by The Associated Press show Jackson claimed to have a net worth of $236.6 million as of March 31, 2007.

Since that time both Jackson’s debts and assets grew substantially — he refinanced loans later that year that increased his debt load by tens of millions of dollars, but the Sony/ATV Music Publishing joint venture also spent hundreds of millions acquiring new songs.

Jackson’s health also was a concern in his final days. A nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid said Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful.

Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse whose specialty includes nutritional counseling, also said she got a frantic phone call from Jackson four days before his death that made her fear that he somehow obtained Diprivan or another drug to induce sleep.

Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Lt. Butch Arnoldi said authorities met Tuesday based on speculation over a possible memorial at Neverland, but Jackson’s family had yet to reach out to them for assistance with any kind of memorial.

“We have not been contacted by any member of the family or any representative of the family, talking about or requesting any kind of event,” he said.

Neverland is located in the rolling hills of central California’s wine country, about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles. A public funeral there on a busy holiday weekend could bring the rural area’s roads to a standstill.

Officials from the local board of supervisors, the county executive and law enforcement met Tuesday to discuss the possibility of restricting parking along parts of Figueroa Mountain Road, which runs past Neverland.

County Executive William Boyer said the meeting was to prepare in case a public event was staged at the ranch, which would overwhelm the two-lane narrow road with media and fans. He said he was not in contact with the family and was not aware of their wishes.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Rick Quintero said the CHP had not received a request for a motorcade. “They would definitely need to notify us because it’s going to impact the motoring public,” Quintero said.

It was unclear whether Jackson could be buried at the ranch. California Funeral Directors Association executive director Bob Achermann said state law would prohibit Jackson’s uncremated remains from being interred at Neverland.

The state’s health and safety code makes interring any uncremated remains outside of a cemetery a misdemeanor, he said.

Cremated remains can be kept in a home or private mausoleum outside a cemetery, he said.

At once a symbol of Jackson’s success and excesses, Neverland became the site of a makeshift memorial after his death Thursday. Scores of fans have streamed past the gated entrance to leave handwritten notes, photographs, balloons and flowers.

He was 29 and at the height of his popularity when he bought the ranch, naming it after the mythical land of Peter Pan, where boys never grow up. There, he surrounded himself with animals, rides and children.

Jackson fled the ranch — and the country — after his acquittal on charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor in 2003 at the estate after getting him drunk.

On the other coast, meanwhile, Jackson fans converged on New York City’s famed Apollo Theater on Tuesday for a public tribute to the performer, clutching photographs, cheering and dancing to his music at the legendary venue that launched the one-time child star’s career.

The Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing speech praising the pop star to hundreds of fans who crammed into the theater as others waited in line outside to pay their respects.

“Michael made young men and women all over the world imitate us,” Sharpton said. “Before Michael, we were limited and ghettoized. But Michael put on a colorful military outfit, he pulled his pants up, he put on the one glove, and he smashed the barriers of segregated music.”

The promoter who booked Michael Jackson for a sold-out comeback tour said Tuesday that footage of the singer’s rehearsals may be released in the future, and that an all-star tribute show based on his canceled concerts is likely to take place.

Michael Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe vows to fight for custody of kids: ‘I want my children’
Rich Schapiro
July 2, 2009
New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/michael_jackson/2009/07/02/2009-07-02_michael_jacksons_exwife_debbie_rose_vows_to_fight_for_custody_of_kids_i_want_my_.html
It’s official: Debbie Rowe wants her kids.

In her first public comments since Michael Jackson’s death, his ex-wife made clear she will fight to gain custody of her two children.

“I want my children,” Rowe told NBC Los Angeles. “I am stepping up. I have to.”

“We had an agreement… he didn’t keep his end,” Rowe said, adding that she is grieving for her ex.

“It hasn’t been easy. It’s been painful.”

Rowe, 50, spoke out a day after it emerged that she was cut of Jackson’s will.

The pop icon’s former wife plans to seek a restraining order to keep Jackson’s father, Joe Sr., away from her two kids: son Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11.

Responding to reports that she is not the children’s biological mother, Rowe said she is willing to submit to DNA testing.

Jackson’s youngest child, Prince Michael II, was born to a surrogate mother.

Rowe expressed concern about splitting up the children, saying she’d accept custody of the youngest - but didn’t expect a court to go along.

Rowe, a California-based nurse, divorced Jackson in 1999 after three years of marriage. She tried to surrender her parental rights, but the process was botched.

Jackson’s mother has been granted temporary custody of the pop legend’s children and the will names her as guardian. Diana Ross was named as a back-up in case Katherine Jackson died.

Federal Drug Agents Asked to Join Michael Jackson Death Probe
DEA Division Investigates Pill Mills, Doctor Shopping and Regulates Controlled Prescription Drugs
Vic Walter/Richard Esposito
July 1, 2009
ABCNews.com
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/MichaelJackson/story?id=7982097&page=1
Federal drug agents have been asked to join the investigation into Michael Jackson’s death, ABC News has learned. Until now, the probe into the pop star’s death has been managed by the LAPD alone.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s diversion division, which looks into issues of doctor shopping, over shopping, and pill mills, and has regulatory authority over prescription drugs, is now involved with the investigation, two separate sources tell ABC News. Further details are expected to emerge.

The DEA issued an official statement on the investigation that shed little light onto any role they might play in assisting the LAPD.

“We routinely offer assistance to any agency regarding the Federal Controlled Substance act, however at this time we have nothing further to comment about the death of Michael Jackson,” the statement said.

A number of prescriptions were found in the Jackson residence, ABC News has learned, that are part of the LAPD probe.

Concert Promoter:  The Jackson Tour May Go On
June 30, 2009
FOXNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529606,00.html
The head of the promotion company behind Michael Jackson’s 50-night “This is It” concert extravaganza says he’d like the concerts to go on.

In an exclusive interview with SKY News, Randy Philips said he would like the Jackson family to be on stage and take part in the show, with celebrity friends of the late icon rotating as stand ins for Jackson.

On Monday, the concert promoters announced that 750,000 Michael Jackson fans could get full refunds for the pop star’s canceled 50-night “This is It” concert extravaganza — or opt to receive souvenir tickets instead.

If the show is indeed canceled, the move could help recoup some of AEG’s losses from the ill-fated tour. Fans could choose to receive the actual tickets, which it said feature graphics “inspired and designed” by Jackson himself.

Fans spent more than $90 million on tickets, which were priced between $82 and $124, though some went for hundreds of dollars on Internet auction sites.

Jackson’s death has left AEG Live, which operates the 02 Arena where the pop star was to have performed, with a colossal problem.

In addition to the money taken in by ticket sales, which must be refunded if canceled, the company had already paid Jackson millions and spent millions more getting ready for the planned July 13 premiere — not to mention that one of the city’s biggest arenas has been left with 50 open nights.

The skirmishing over refunds and open bookings is just one aspect of what is likely to be years of legal wrangling over financial matters, including Jackson’s considerable debts, assets and custody of his three children. The battles are likely to dwarf earlier fights for the control of assets left by other departed rock gods, including guitar hero Jimi Hendrix and reggae trailblazer Bob Marley.

Promoters are generally required to take out insurance to cover concert cancellations or non-appearances, said Malcolm Tarling, a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers.

Many of the policies are extremely specific, allocating levels of payouts according to the reason for the cancellation — including the cause of any death. If a drug overdose was specified as a risk with lower coverage, AEG may be entitled to less money.

Still, Phillips told SKY that financially, his company was fine and he was awaiting news about the funeral of Michael Jackson.

Phillips says he believes Jackson’s comeback would have been one of the best arena shows ever produced. He says a video of Jackson’s rehearsals for the tour does exist.

He says Jackson said he believed he was ready for the 50 sold-out performances at London’s O2 arena.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.