Jackson's will filed in court

STAFF REPORT

Michael Jackson's will was filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles court, giving his entire estate to a family trust but cutting out former wife Debbie Rowe.

The will, dated July 7, 2002, estimated his estate at that time at more than $500 million.

It gives the entire estate to the Michael Jackson Family Trust.

The documents said Jackson's estate consisted almost entirely of "non-cash, non-liquid assets, including primarily an interest in a catalogue of music royalty rights which is currently being administered by Sony ATV, and the interests of various entities."

His mother, Katherine Jackson, is named as a beneficiary of the trust and the guardian of Jackson's children, who are named in the will.

The will names Diana Ross as a successor guardian to Jackson's mother if necessary.

It also names Jackson's longtime lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend, as co-executors of the will.

In a statement, Branca and McClain said: "The most important element of Michael's will is his unwavering desire that his mother, Katherine, become the legal guardian for his three children. As we work to carry out Michael's instructions to safeguard both the future of his children as well as the remarkable legacy he left us as an artist we ask that all matters involving his estate be handled with the dignity and the respect that Michael and his family deserve."

Earlier this week, Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted Jackson's 79-year-old mother, Katherine Jackson, temporary guardianship of her son's three children, who range in age from 7 to 12.

The judge 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.

The move earlier in the week by Jackson's family to proactively take legal action does not seem to conflict with the singer's stated desire to have his children put under his parents' care and their financial welfare assured.

But 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.

More details emerged Tuesday about the recent state of Jackson's finances. In the most detailed account yet of the singer's tangled financial empire, documents 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 he is a part of also spent hundreds of millions acquiring new songs.