LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s family moved Monday to take control of his complicated personal and financial affairs, winning temporary custody of his three children and asking a judge to name the King of Pop’s mother as administrator of his estate.
In documents filed in Superior Court, Jackson’s parents said they think their 50-year-old son died without a valid will.
They also made it clear they think they should take charge of his debt-ridden but potentially lucrative financial empire and act as permanent caretakers of his three children.
Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted 79-year-old Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the children, who range in age from 7 to 12. He did not rule on her requests to take charge of the children’s and Jackson’s estates.
Beckloff scheduled a hearing for next Monday and another for Aug. 3 to consider those issues and whether Katherine Jackson should be appointed the children’s permanent guardian.
The judge later granted Katherine Jackson the right to take control of her son’s personal property, now in the hands of an unnamed third party. The ruling does not detail the nature of those items, but they do not involve money.
L. Londell McMillan, the family’s attorney, said in a statement that the Jacksons are pleased with the rulings.
“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,” he said.
When Jackson died Thursday, he left behind a 12-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter by his ex-wife Deborah Rowe, as well as a 7-year-old son 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.
“They have a long established relationship with paternal grandmother and are comfortable in her care,” the family said in court documents.
Family patriarch Joe Jackson, 79, said at a news conference that the children were enjoying playing with other kids, something they don’t normally do.
Mark Lester, a former British child star who is godfather to the children, told The Associated Press he thinks they belong with Jackson’s mother.
“She is a very loving, kind and gracious woman, and she had a very close relationship with Michael and a very good rapport with her grandchildren,” Lester said. “I know the kids are fine. They are deeply saddened by what’s happened, but they’re coping.”
A will, which might spell out Jackson’s wishes for his children and estate, has not turned up.
Jackson’s father told reporters 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 added that his son would not be buried at Neverland Ranch, the playground he built in the hills of Santa Barbara County, then left after going into seclusion following his acquittal on child-molestation charges in 2005.
