Michael Jackson’s Mother Finalizes Custody of His Kids 3

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Katherine JacksonJackson family matriarch Katherine Jackson was officially named guardian to and granted custody of her son Michael’s three children by a judge in Los Angeles this morning. A family allowance will be paid out of Jackson’s estate to support the children.

Katherine Jackson, who is 79 years old, recently reached a custody agreement with Debbie Rowe. Rowe is Michael Jackson’s ex-wife and the biological mother of his oldest kids – Prince Michael I (12 years old) and Paris (11 years old). The parties agreed that Rowe would receive the right to visitation with the kids with the schedule to be determined by a child psychologist who will work with the family.

As part of the agreement, Rowe will reportedly continue to receive spousal support from the Jackson estate. (Spousal support usually ends with the death of either party but posthumous alimony can be arranged by agreement and either a life insurance policy or a trust provision.)

The court found that Blanket (7 years old), Michael Jackson’s youngest child, had no legal mother and gave custody of the child to Katherine as well. Blanket’s birth mother was a surrogate who has never been identified.

Both sides expressed that they were content with the agreement. Rowe has had little to no contact with the children since her divorce from Michael Jackson in 1999.

It is rumored that Katherine Jackson’s oldest daughter Rebbie will actually care for the children on a day-to-day basis. Interestingly, Joe Jackson, father of Michael and husband of Katherine, made no attempts to gain joint custody of the children. There are, of course, longstanding reports that Joe Jackson was abusive towards his sons and his behavior in the media since Michael’s death has seemed more marketing-related than grieving.

Later in the day, Katherine Jackson withdrew her petition to be named executor of her son’s estate. Jackson’s will named his attorney and another adviser as executors of his estate as well as trustees of the trust that presumably holds most of Jackson’s assets. It is likely that the trust documents set forth the means to care financially for the children. The trustees of the trust, and not Katherine Jackson, would have authority over those funds. They will likely arrange for an on-going allowance with larger expenditures to be approved by the trustees.

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