Paris Jackson Challenges $109 Million Michael Jackson Estate Fee

Paris Jackson filed a legal motion in the Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to reject a $109,219,648 fee request submitted by John Branca, the executor of the Michael Jackson estate. The request covers combined compensation for Branca, his legal team, and late co-executor John McClain.

Jackson alleges "persistent incompetence" on the part of Branca, claiming he missed a September 15 deadline to provide complete financial accountings for 2023 and 2024. She is asking Judge Mitchell Beckloff to retroactively reduce Branca's management fee from 15 percent to 10 percent of the estate's gross entertainment-related income. This reduction would apply to 2023, 2024, and subsequent years until a complete 2026 accounting is provided.

A spokesperson for the Michael Jackson estate dismissed the motion as "completely without merit," asserting that the 2023 and 2024 accountings have been filed and that later reports are not yet due. The estate further clarified that the executors waived standard executor compensation in favor of a court-ordered management fee for business operations.

This dispute follows an April ruling by Judge Beckloff, who ordered estate lawyers to return $625,000 in bonuses that the judge deemed arbitrary. A hearing on the current fee dispute is scheduled for December 4.