Paris Jackson struck financial gold with a staggering sum from her father Michael Jackson's estate. Months after the 27-year-old launched a legal petition against the law firms entrusted with managing the "Thriller" singer's vast fortune, accusing them of "premium payouts," the legal eagles fired back, unveiling the estimated windfall Paris has reaped from the estate in the process.
In a court filing submitted to the Superior Court of California on October 9 and obtained exclusively by E! News, the attorneys claimed that Paris "has raked in roughly $65 million from the Estate in benefits," further asserting, "She would never have pocketed such a hefty sum had the Executors adhered to a conventional playbook for an Estate of this magnitude in July 2009." Indeed, the filing contends that Paris's substantial inheritance is a direct result of the estate's strategic restructuring orchestrated by the attorneys.
A prior filing, dated July 15 and also acquired by E! News, shed light on Michael Jackson's dire financial straits at the time of his demise in July 2009, revealing that he was saddled with over $500 million in debt. The attorneys' payouts, it argued, were justified as they managed to turn the late icon's finances around, transforming it into a formidable estate. "It is neither unusual nor uncommon, particularly in the entertainment/music industry, for attorneys of such caliber, experience, and connections to receive compensation beyond their standard hourly rate," the filing stated at the time.
Paris—who, along with her younger brothers Prince Jackson, 28, and Bigi "Blanket" Jackson, 23, stands to inherit from her father's estate—initiated her legal crusade against the law firms in June. She alleged that her father's estate had "neglected to provide satisfactory explanations" for the $625,000 earmarked as "premium payouts" to three separate law firms in 2018 for unrecorded attorney hours. "To make matters worse, these payments seem, at least in part, to be extravagant tips bestowed upon already handsomely compensated counsel," the filing, previously obtained by E! News, read. "What's even more alarming is that at least two of these law firms have already received their full Premium Payment, flouting the Court's directive that only partial payment of attorneys' fees be allowed until Court approval is secured."
