Katherine Jackson Awarded Permanent Guardianship Of Michael's Children

Katherine Jackson, 79, was granted permanent guardianship of Michael Jackson's three children on Monday. There will be a status hearing on October 2 to see how the children are doing under the guardianship. Katherine’s allowance was also approved for the next six months, at which point it will go under review once again. As for the children, 83.5% of what was requested was approved until January 11, 2010.

Katherine, who looked relaxed as she waited for the hearing to begin, was not alone during the legal outing. Oldest daughter Rebbie, La Toya, and son Randy were also at her side at the Los Angeles Superior court house. One bizarre development came early on in the hearing when Mark Vincent Kaplan spoke up on behalf of Dr. Arnold Klein and voiced concern about any possible role Joe Jackson might play in the children’s lives. He also said Klein was interested in having a say in how the children would be educated. Judge Beckloff informed Kaplan he would need to file a separate motion if he and Klein wanted to pursue the matter.

Last week, lawyers for Katherine and Debbie Rowe- the birth mother of two of Jackson’s children- reached a settlement concerning all three of the children’s guardianship. In lieu of a custody battle, both parties agreed that the children would live with Katherine while Rowe would have visitation right to her two children Prince Michael, 12, and Paris Michael, 11. The mother of Jackson’s third child Prince Michael II (known as Blanket), 7, is still unknown.