Evidence is sparse that Michael Jackson's will is a fake

OPINION - Siblings, also known as collateral heirs, often object when disinherited. In reality, not even children are entitled to distribution, as the selection of beneficiaries is entirely left up to the testator...

TheGrio Staff

Jul 31, 2012

Is Michael Jackson’s will valid? It depends on who you ask. Janet, Randy, Rebbie, and Jermaine Jackson argue that the executors of their late brother’s estate falsified the will. Their primary argument centers on the discrepancy between the date of the will’s execution and Jackson’s location at that time it was signed. The will was executed on July 7, 2002 in Los Angeles, the same weekend that Michael Jackson was reportedly in New York City. Randy Jackson observed in an interview on Politics Nation with Al Sharpton on MSNBC that Michael “cannot be in two places at one time.”

Even Al Sharpton attested to Michael’s location. “He was in fact in Harlem with me that weekend. That Saturday he was there,” Sharpton concurred on his show. “That Sunday we were out together, and that Monday, he was with Johnny Cochran and I.”

The siblings strongly argue that the conflict of Michael’s location and the stated place of execution proves that the will is false. They claim they are not interested in money, but rather in the proper administration of the estate. In his MSNBC interview, Randy Jackson said that the executors are “using the children to try and put pressure on my mom to try and come out and get her to say things in their favor to kind of clean up their image. They know that they’ve been caught. They know that they falsified a document. And they know that there are questions we want answered.”

Yet, executors John Branca and John McClain insist that their actions are in alignment with Michael’s testamentary intent and his children’s beneficiary interests. In other words, they are just doing their job to see that Michael Jackson’s will is carried out. They have a special duty to serve the interests of the people named in Michael Jackson’s will (which was accepted as valid by the courts): Katherine, Prince, Paris, and Blanket Jackson.

In many will contests, family members feel entitled to object to the distribution of the estate. Siblings, also known as collateral heirs, often object when disinherited. In reality, not even children are entitled to distribution, as the selection of beneficiaries is entirely left up to the testator. The only person entitled to a minimum share is a surviving spouse, which Jackson did not have. So, the Jackson siblings have no claim on Michael’s estate on the basis of kinship ties.