An in Depth Review of Michael Jackson's Trust -- Part 2
Today I continue my in depth review of Michael Jackson's Trust. Part 1 is here, and you can download a full copy of the Trust here. Today we start talking about the real meat of the trust -- the dispositive provisions. In other words, who gets what?
Article Three of the Trust provides that upon Jackson's death, the Trust estate is to be divided as follows:
- Twenty percent is to be distributed off the top to various children's charities that are to be selected to a committee made up of his mother, John Branca, and John McClain.
- After the 20% to children's charities, the Trustees are to pay the various debts and expenses of the estate, including the estate tax.
- Fifty percent of what's left, i.e. 80% minus the fees and costs paid in #2 to be held in a new Trust for his children; and
- The other fifty percent of what's left to be held in a new Trust for his mother, Katherine Jackson.
- If none of his children survived him, then 100% of what was left after #1 and #2 above would go into the Trust for his mother, Katherine
- If neither his mother, nor all of his children survived him, then the property would be held in trust for his nieces and nephews, "Levon Jackson, Elijah Jackson, Anthony Jackson, Taj Jackson, Tarylle Jackson, and T.J. Jackson"
- Finally, the Trust specifically states that Jackson's marriage to Debbie Rowe has been dissolved and that he intentionally has made no provisions for her.
I will begin discussing the Trusts set up for his children and his mother in the next post.
Hello David. I am looking for what I would assume is "Part 3" but unable to locate it. I think a lot of people would love to have your opinion on the Trust and the will as well. I am sure you have heard word that some of Michael's family, and fans, believe the will to be fake due to inconsistencies including the names of his children and his location--the will says it was signed in Los Angeles but apparently Michael was in New York (that, or he flew back to Los Angeles after being photographed in NY on July 6th and again on July 8th--quick flight, I guess). The will also lacks being notarized. Supposedly the witnesses named on the will recall him signing it but they won't tell ~where~, at least, I can find no sources that says where it was signed. Some also fear the signature on his will was forged. I personally do not know what to think. I read an article recently that said his will is really not the issue--it is the Trust that is important. So, I would like to know your stance on the Trust. You mentioned that 20% should have gone to charity immediately but TBH I have not heard of any funds going to charity yet. Could this be from the enormous debt that the Estate had to tackle first? There is also a lot of concern regarding the Estate executors--John Branca and John McClain (Barry Siegel, also a witness on the will, resigned). I do not know much on McClain but Branca came and went out of Michael's life (he was first hired in 1980). He was fired in 2003, came back, then left in 2006 and then reappeared a week before Michael died. Seems fans of Michael are either pro-Estate or seriously con-Estate because of the association of the executors with Sony which many feel wanted (and still do) to take possession of Michael's share of the Sony/ATV catalog. So, I guess you could say some are saying the Executors are corrupt and thus they are angry (they also feel that he had appointed new executors but there is no proof of that). Again, I do not know what to think on the matter so I choose to not make any assumptions. There is some talk that the executors are making millions of dollars while Jackson's family (his mother and children) are not receiving nearly that much (~$86,000 a month). Someone recently told me that this is the most they could receive by law. I am not sure if that is true or not. I also sit here very confused with many things unrelated to the will/Trust such as the Estate's ownership of Michael's master recordings and how much he really continued to own of his share of the Sony/ATV catalog. The Estate makes it sound like he did in fact own 50% of the Sony/ATV catalog and his master recordings as well (per some documents requesting to keep trade secrets private released in September), but other sources (ex. Lynton Guest) say this is not true due mainly to his breach of his contract with Sony and his enormous debt. Enough from me! Hope to hear your thoughts soon.
Oh, I also meant to add, though insignificant, those named in bullet 6 are Michael's cousins (first three) and nephews (last three).
Hi again David--sorry to bother you. Can you give some insight into how much Estate tax Michael's Estate would need to have paid? Thanks.