Michael Jackson's three children and his mother, Katherine, reportedly can't get money from the late pop star's estate until a dispute with the IRS has been settled.
Per court documents seen by People and ET Online, MJ's three children—27-year-old Prince, 25-year-old Paris, and 22-year-old Bigi—and their grandmother cannot receive money from the executors of his estate amid ongoing legal disputes. The three are beneficiaries of MJ's trust, while Katherine is a beneficiary of a sub-trust. The executors under his will, John Branca and John McClain, have turned down a request from attorneys to allow a portion of the estate to "remain subject to administration" because they can't "possibly determine what amount could be safely distributed at this time."
When the IRS audited the federal estate tax return, it found that the estate "undervalued its assets" and owed an estimated "$700 million in taxes and penalties." The estate disputed the IRS findings in 2021 and won its case in tax court that same year, but the estate has since filed a motion for reconsideration regarding the value of MJ's music catalog, Mijac, which Sony purchased a portion of in February for at least $600 million. The request is still pending, which means the value of the estate hasn't been finalized.
The executors said that "20 percent of the estate 'as valued for federal estate tax purposes'" is to be "distributed to charity before the remaining assets of the estate can be distributed to sub-trusts." Before that money can be donated to charity, "a resolution of the dispute" is needed. The family will still be provided for through the "family allowance," however.
"In annual reports provided to the probate court, which are publicly available, anyone can see that the Estate provides Michael’s mother and children with very substantial amounts of money to support them," said MJ's estate in a statement. "The Estate has a very cooperative relationship with Michael’s children and whenever they need anything, the Estate works with them to ensure that they are very well taken care of, just as Michael would have wanted."
The news comes months after it was reported that 94-year-old Katherine Jackson had received over $55 million from the pop star's estate since his death in 2009. Earlier this year, she requested that the estate cover her legal fees to appeal an undisclosed business transaction the estate struck.
Around the same time, MJ's youngest child Bigi 'Blanket' Jackson filed legal documents asking the court to block his grandmother from using estate money to pay for the appeal. He was working with her to stop the estate from making an undisclosed transaction, which could be the Sony Music one. The court ruled against them and he decided not to pursue the case further, but she wanted to appeal.
