Michael Jackson: Family moves quickly to take charge

Michael Jackson: Family moves quickly to take charge

On Monday Michael Jackson's family moved on to take control of his complicated personal and financial affairs by winning temporary custody of his three children and also asking a judge to name the King of Pop's mother as administrator of his estate.

In the documents that were filed in Superior Court, Jackson's parents said that they believed that  their 50-year-old son died without a valid will.

They also made it clear they believed they should take charge of both his debt-ridden but potentially lucrative financial empire and act as permanent caretakers of his three children.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted seventy nine year old  Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the children, who range in age from 7 to 12. He did not immediately rule on her requests to take charge of the children's and Jackson's estates.

Beckloff scheduled a hearing for July 6 and another for Aug. 3 for considering those issues and whether Katherine Jackson should be appointed as the children's permanent guardian.

The judge later on Monday also granted Katherine Jackson the right to take control of her son's personal property that is now in the hands of an unnamed third party. The ruling did not provide detail of  the nature of those items and did  not provide control of any money in the estate.

L. Londell McMillan, the family's attorney, said in a statement that the Jackson family were pleased with the results of their Monday filings.

She continued, "Mrs. Jackson deserves custody, and the family should have the administration of the brilliance of Mr. Michael Jackson. Mrs. Jackson is a wonderful, loving and strong woman with a special family many of us have admired for years. The personal and legal priorities are focused on first protecting the best interests of Mr. Michael Jackson's children, his family, his memorial services and then preserving his creative and business legacy with the dignity and honor it deserves."

When Jackson died on Thursday, he left behind a 12-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter by his ex-wife Deborah Rowe, as well as a 7-year-old son who was born to a surrogate mother.

The Jackson family said the children  Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (known as Prince Michael), Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael II  are living at the Jackson family compound in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.

Family patriarch Joe Jackson said at a news conference that the children were enjoying playing with other kids  something that they did  not normally do.

As per the documents though Rowe is the mother of the two older children, her whereabouts are unknown. The document simply listed "none" for the mother of the youngest child, Prince Michael II.

Supporting Katherine Jackson in her petition bid to administer the estate was Jackson's father, Joe Jackson.

The Jacksons said that they have not heard from Rowe since their son's death. Rowe's attorney, Marta Almli, did not respond to an e-mail message seeking comment Monday. She previously said, "Ms. Rowe's only thoughts at this time have been regarding the devastating loss Michael's family has suffered."

Mark Lester, a former British child star who is godfather to Jackson's children, told a popular news agency that he believes they belonged  to Jackson's mother.

Meanwhile, authorities continued to investigate Jackson's death. Officials with the Los Angeles County coroner's office returned to the mansion he was renting at the time of his death and left with two large plastic bags of evidence.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the bags contained medication. He has declined to elaborate.

Jackson's father told reporters at the family compound that his son's funeral was still in the planning stages.

"It will be some private, but not closed all the way down to the public," he said without elaborating.

He also remarked that his son would not be buried at Neverland Ranch, the sprawling playground he built in the rolling hills of Santa Barbara County then abandoned after going into seclusion following his acquittal on child molestation charges in the year 2005.

Jackson's father also used the news conference to plug a record company he said he's founding with a business partner.

He continued, "We have a lot of good artists pitching to come out”.

His son, who had not released a new recording or performed publicly in years, was believed to be hundreds of millions of dollars in debt at the time of his death. However, his finances are complicated and could take years to unravel.

A famous news agency  learned that Michael Jackson had finished an elaborate video production project just two weeks before he died. The five-week project dubbed "Dome Project" could be the final finished video piece overseen by the star.

Jackson nearly lost his beloved Neverland, which was once filled with amusement park rides and wild animals, to foreclosure in March. Billionaire real estate investor Thomas Barrack bailed him out at the 11th hour, setting up a joint venture with Jackson that took ownership of the 2,500-acre property.

However the future of the ranch is uncertain. However three of Jackson's brothers paid visit to the estate with Barrack over the weekend. A spokesman for the holding company that now operates it said it was premature to talk about the ranch's future.