Katherine Jackson Wants An Extensive Audit Of Michael's Estate
Aug. 23 2012, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
By Jen Heger - RadarOnline.com Assistant Managing Editor
Katherine Jackson's legal team wants to do an extensive audit of late son Michael Jackson's estate, the matriarch's attorney, Perry Sanders, told RadarOnline.com exclusively.
"My audit is being done to see the details of where the money is coming from and where it is going," Sanders told RadarOnline.com. "The beneficiaries should be entitled to all detailed documentation so they can see what THEIR money is paying for."
On July 19, Katherine's lawyers submitted legal docs asking for "production of supporting documents for account current," and the docs state, "Ms. Katherine Jackson...hereby requests that representatives John Branca, John McClain and counsel for the Estate of Michael Jackson produce for inspection and audit all supporting documents for the Second Account Current and Report of Status of Administration and Petition.."
However, lawyers for Michael Jackson's Estate have several issues with Katherine Jackson's request, and said in their response, "John Branca and John McClain object to the Request to the extent that it is vague and ambiguous as to the phrase 'all supporting documents for the Second Account Current' in that the Request encompasses thousands of pages of documents which potentially support the Second Account Current...Responding Party (the executors) objects to the Request to the extent that it seeks highly confidential business and financial information...it will not produce such documents absent the entry of a stipulation and protective order governing, among other things, the access to and use highly confidential documents." Most of the contracts that the estate has entered into are sealed because they contain trade secrets and other privileged information, and this is routinely done to protect the best interests of the estate.
As previously reported, Judge Mitchell Beckloff awarded co-guardianship of Michael's three children to Katherine and TJ Jackson on Wednesday after a string of bizarre incidents involving the 82-year-old grandmother/guardian, who was whisked away to an Arizona resort by her children and out of contact with the grandkids for 11 days.
Almost all of the major contracts, business deals and other transactions have all been presented to Judge Beckloff by the executors, in order to be transparent with Michael Jackson's estate. The executors have requested that Michael Jackson's estate be handled in probate court for another year.
In the three years since Michael's tragic death, the executors have wiped almost $475 million dollar in debt off the books that the pop singer had when he passed away. The estate has entered into lucrative business agreements with Pepsi, Cirque du Soleil and were instrumental in the wildly successful theatrical release of Michael Jackson's rehearsal footage, This Is It.
Judge Mithcell Beckloff will weigh in on what documents if any, the estate will turn over to Katherine Jackson.
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