Paris Jackson seeks court order to fund family trust with $600 million from Michael Jackson estate

Paris Jackson filed a petition in Los Angeles on Oct. 29 requesting that a court order $600 million in cash and cash equivalents from the Michael Jackson estate be transferred to a family trust for her and her brothers, Prince and Bigi. The petition argues that the trust, established after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, remains unfunded despite the estate holding about $850 million at the end of 2024 and generating more than $1 billion in cash from recent transactions.

According to the filing, the trust’s terms provide for income distributions beginning at age 21 and staged principal payments at ages 30, 35 and 40. Paris, 28, says the current delay leaves the siblings dependent on estate executor John Branca to determine the timing and amount of any payouts.

The petition cites several major estate transactions, including a 2018 sale of EMI Music Publishing for $287.5 million, a 2020 sale of Neverland Ranch for $22 million, and a 2023 Sony deal that produced $750 million in upfront proceeds. A spokesperson for Branca said the estate cannot fully fund the trusts until pending legal issues, such as an IRS dispute over $700 million in taxes and penalties, are resolved. The estate has denied withholding payments, noting that more than $200 million has already been distributed and that Michael Jackson’s will prevents any child from receiving a distribution until their 30s.

Paris’s representatives contested the estate’s response, stating that the executor had the ability and obligation to fund the trust earlier and that the family’s repeated delays forced Paris to act.

In a related motion, Paris also alleges that Branca missed a court-ordered deadline to file complete accountings for 2023 and 2024. The estate maintains that the required accountings have been filed and that Branca and co-executor John McClain waived their compensation, receiving only a court-ordered management fee. A hearing on both the trust-funding petition and the management-fee challenge is set for Dec. 4.