The “Petition for Probate” in the Michael Jackson estate, which in Florida would be called “Petition for Administration” was filed in California today, along with his will. This is a petition filed with the court, requesting that the probate of his estate be opened. In Florida, this is generally a standard form document (although it can and should be changed under the right circumstances). I obtained the above Petition from The Smoking Gun
I am a Florida trusts and estates attorney and not a California one. While many of the basic concepts are the same, there can also be vast differences. I am not sure if what I linked to above is the entire filing or not. It appears to be incomplete.
It lists John Branca, John McClain and Barry Siegel as both Co-Executors of Michael Jackson’s estate and successor co-Trustees of the Michael Jackson Family Trust. So that answers one question as to the identity of the Trustees. As co-executors of the estate and co-trustees of the trust, they will be able to more easily manage the transfer of the assets not already in the trust to the trust. Not to mention that there are fees that they can be paid for serving as both co-executor and co-trustees. While these fees are not normally that large, in an estate of this magnitude and complexity they could certainly go into the millions of dollars.
According to the submission, the primary beneficiaries (that is the people who are first in line to receive the assets from the trust) are Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson, and his children, Prince Michael Jackson Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, and Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II. The Petition for probate only states that they are beneficiaries. They do not state any of the terms.
A big deal has been made in the media that Michael Jackson put his mother in as a beneficiary but omitted his father. This is silly. Katherine and Joseph Jackson have been married for over 60 years. Joe Jackson does not technically have a right to his wife’s inheritance. However, in reality, they are a long time married couple who presumably share everything. Giving to his mother is not really leaving his father out in the cold.
There are also a number of contingent beneficiaries named. These are people who inherit of the primary beneficiaries for some reason are unable to. Or, the primary beneficiaries may have been provided with their share in a trust. For example, there may be a trust that provides Katherine Jackson with all of the income from the trust, plus principal for her health support and maintenance for the rest of her life. When she dies, the contingent remainder beneficiaries may inherit what is left (probably also in trust)
Again, this is all speculation, but would be something that I would do.
The contingent remainder beneficiaries are (all people have the last name Jackson unless otherwise indicated): Levon, Elijah, Anthony, Taj, Tarylls, T.J.
While there are probably more, that is all that The Smoking Gun published at this time. When I obtain the remainder of the document, I will post an update.