Paris Jackson has filed a petition seeking a court order requiring her late father’s estate to transfer approximately $600 million to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, which benefits her and her brothers, Prince and Bigi. The petition was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on October 29, according to court documents cited by People. A hearing is scheduled for December 4, 2026.
Jackson argues that the trust remains unfunded more than 17 years after Michael Jackson’s estate plan established it. She says the plan was intended to provide the children with income from their trust shares from age 21, followed by inheritance distributions at ages 30, 35 and 40. According to her petition, those arrangements have not been implemented as intended, leaving payments dependent on executor John Branca’s decisions.
The filing points to transactions involving the estate’s interest in EMI Music Publishing, Neverland Ranch and a deal with Sony for Michael Jackson’s music catalog and other intellectual property. Jackson’s attorneys say those deals generated more than $1 billion in cash before taxes and expenses. They also cite an estate accounting showing about $850 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2024, arguing that roughly $600 million could be moved to the trust after potential liabilities are considered.
Jackson also alleges that payments to her and her brothers were reduced after she questioned the estate’s management. A representative for the estate rejects that claim and says unresolved legal matters have prevented the trusts from being fully funded. The estate cited its ongoing dispute with the Internal Revenue Service, which initially sought about $700 million in taxes and penalties. It says a ruling substantially reduced the amount but that the dispute is not settled.
The estate denied withholding or reducing payments, calling that allegation “a complete fabrication,” and said more than $200 million has been distributed to or for the benefit of the beneficiaries. It also said Michael Jackson’s will provides for staged inheritance distributions beginning in the children’s 30s. A spokesperson for Paris Jackson, meanwhile, accused the estate of mismanagement and said Branca had the ability and obligation to fund the trust in part earlier.
The petition follows other disputes between Jackson and the estate. Days earlier, she accused Branca of “persistent incompetence” and asked a judge to reduce his compensation. Earlier this year, a judge ordered the return of $625,000 in bonus payments to outside law firms, following a challenge by Jackson; the estate disputed that decision and said the bonuses went to outside attorneys, not the executors.
Branca has served as an executor since Michael Jackson’s death in 2009. John McClain, his former co-executor, died in May 2026.
Sources: Just Jared.