Jackson's will revealed

2009-07-01 11:54

Los Angeles - The first hints about Michael Jackson's final wishes surfaced in a will he signed nearly seven years ago to the day, and although details won't be available until the document is filed in a court, there's nothing to indicate that its instructions are at odds with the hasty arrangements made by the singer's mother and father.

The will gives guardianship over his children to the singer's mother and leaves all his assets in a trust fund, a person with knowledge of the document said on Tuesday.

The will was signed on July 7 2002, and named as executors Jackson's long-time lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the topic.

The will surfaced just a day after the family said in court documents it believed the 50-year-old entertainer had died without a valid will and moved to take control over his lucrative, but debt-encumbered estate.

In response, 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.

Personal bankruptcy could work against Mother

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 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.

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 bankruptcy and listed nearly $24m 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.

"I think it would be a negative factor but not necessarily a disqualifier," said Beth Kaufman, a Washington, DC-based attorney specialising in estate tax issues. "It could indicate that she is not capable of sound financial management."

The will's contents became known on a day that a flurry of vehicles, heavy construction equipment and workers were spotted going in and out of Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

More than a dozen vehicles, including a tractor, a cement mixer and a backhoe were seen on Tuesday. One bore a phone number that rang at a custom ironworks company. Gardeners and police also were spotted on the grounds.

Neverland burial

There has been intense speculation since Jackson died on Thursday over where and when a memorial service will be held. It's also not known where he will be buried.

Members of Jackson's family met on Tuesday with officials from the police and California Highway Patrol about funeral services but "details are still pending", according to Fran Clader, a spokesperson for the patrol.

Officials from the Santa Barbara County board of supervisors, the county executive and law enforcement also met to discuss the possibility of restricting parking along parts of Figueroa Mountain Road, which runs past Neverland.

County Executive William Boyer said the meeting was to prepare in case a public event was staged at the ranch, which would overwhelm the two-lane narrow road with media and fans. He said he was not in contact with the family and was not aware of their wishes.

It was unclear whether Jackson could be legally buried at the ranch. California Funeral Directors Association executive director Bob Achermann said state law would prohibit Jackson's uncremated remains from being interred at Neverland.

The state's health and safety code makes interring any uncremated remains outside of a cemetery a misdemeanour, he said. Cremated remains can be kept in a home or private mausoleum outside a cemetery, he said.

At once a symbol of Jackson's success and excesses, Neverland became the site of a makeshift memorial after his death. Scores of fans have streamed past the gated entrance to leave handwritten notes, photographs, balloons and flowers.

Increased his debt load

Jackson fled the ranch - and the country - after his acquittal on charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor in 2003 at the estate after getting him drunk.

Also on Tuesday, it was learned that Jackson was recently in shaky financial health. In the most detailed account yet of the singer's tangled financial empire, documents obtained by the AP show Jackson claimed to have a net worth of $236.6m 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.

Jackson's own health was a concern in his final days. A nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid said Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful.

Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse whose specialty includes nutritional counselling, said she got a frantic phone call from Jackson four days before his death that made her fear that he somehow obtained Diprivan or another drug to induce sleep.

Lee said Jackson in the call complained that one side of his body felt hot and the other side was cold, prompting her to believe the "somebody had given him something that hit the central nervous system".

"He was in trouble on Sunday and he was crying out," she said.

Raucous yet respectful send-off

Meanwhile, on the other coast on Tuesday, thousands of Jackson fans gave the late pop star a raucous yet respectful send-off during six hours of public memorial services celebrating his life and music at Harlem's Apollo Theatre.

Some 600 fans crowded into the Apollo Theatre for each of the services, clutching photographs, cheering and dancing to his music at the legendary venue that launched the one-time child star's career. Jackson's ties to the theatre go back to 1967, when The Jackson 5 won the Apollo's Amateur Night contest.

"He knew he was loved, but he didn't know he was this loved," said one participant, Rosiland Sargent, 59, of West Orange, New Jersey.

- SAPA