Judge To Name Special Financial

Judge To Name Special Financial Guardian

Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, who is overseeing the setteling of Michael Jackson's affairs said on Monday that he will name a special guardian to represent the financial interests of the pop singer's three children as heirs to his lucrative music empire.

In the same hearing that announced the approved $60 million deal between Columbia Pictures, the estate and concert promoter AEG Live to make a feature-length film from hundreds of hours of rehearsal footage, the judge raised the possibility of the special guardian.

Judge Beckloff said that disputes between the estate administrators and Katherine Jackson over other contracts suggested the need for an independent attorney, known as a guardian ad litem, who could advocate for the performer’s two sons and daughter.

In Michael Jackson's will, he placed all of his assests, which are now estimated in the hundreds of millions, into a private family trust. His mother, Kathrerine and his children each hold a 40% share with the remaining 20% going to charities.

Katherine Jackson, who has custody of her three grandchildren, has a team of attorneys to plead her cause, and the charities are represented by the state attorney general’s office, but there is no one who officially speaks in court proceedings about the managing of the estate for Michael's three children.

After reviewing two proposed merchandising agreements that had been hammered out by the administrators but opposed by Katherine Jackson, Beckloff told lawyers that he felt constrained without input on behalf of the children.

“I don’t know how I approve these [contracts] without the children, who are not represented.”

An attorney for administrators John Branca and John McClain told the judge that naming a representative for the children was unnecessary and likely would cost them money by delaying deals that are to generate income for the estate.

The judge said he hoped to make a decision about appointing a guardian this afternoon.

Source: MJFC / latimes.com