Michael Jackson’s family is facing a huge financial hiccup! The late pop star’s estate has stopped doling out cash to his mom and three kids amid a hefty tax battle with the IRS.
After Jackson passed away in 2009, his children Paris, Bigi, and Prince, alongside his mother Katherine, were named beneficiaries of his fortune. But things took a turn in 2021 when the IRS flagged the estate’s tax return for undervaluing its assets.
According to a bombshell report by People, the IRS demanded a whopping additional $700 million in taxes and penalties from Jackson’s estate.
The estate fought back and initially won against the IRS’s assessment. However, the plot thickened as the estate filed for a reconsideration regarding how much Mijac, Jackson’s music catalog now owned by Sony, is really worth.
With the case still up in the air, the exact value of Jackson’s estate remains a mystery, and no final judgement has been made yet.
While the legal eagles wrestle it out, there’s been a move to keep some of the estate funds on lockdown, earmarked for the Michael Jackson family trust. But here’s the kicker: executors John Branca and John McClain have shot down this request.
They argue it’s impossible to figure out a safe distribution amount at this stage, especially since the trust mandates that 20 percent of the estate value, as determined for tax purposes, must go to charity before anything else is handed out.
So, until the IRS dispute is settled, Paris, Bigi, and Prince, who are all now young adults in their 20s, can’t touch the estate funds.
However, there’s a glimmer of hope. The executors suggested that the estate could still support Jackson’s kids and his mother through ‘the family allowance’.
Fun fact about the Jackson kids: Prince and Paris are Michael’s kids with ex-wife Debbie Rowe, while Bigi came into the world via a surrogate in 2002. Now at 27, 26, and 21, these siblings stick together like glue.
Speaking of sibling love, in 2021 Prince gushed about their bond, “At this point in our life it doesn’t really feel like there’s that hierarchy of, ‘I’m the older brother.’ It’s all about equality and supporting each other’s strengths,” he shared.
