Paris Jackson Accuses Lawyers of Taking 6-Figure Amounts From Late Dad Michael's Estate

Paris Jackson has accused a group of lawyers of taking money from the estate of her late father, Michael Jackson.

John Branca and John McClain became the executors of the music icon's estate when he died in 2009, while Paris and her two younger brothers, Prince and Bigi, are the beneficiaries.

In a new legal filing Paris, 27, made "to protect the rights and interests" of herself and her siblings, she asked the judge to demand that the executors hand over paperwork covering any legal fees made to third party firms between 2019 and 2023.

"Executors’ profound delay in seeking Court approval for extraordinary fees and costs, and lack of oversight with regard to large non-contractual payments Counsel bestowed upon themselves, is concerning," Paris' lawyer stated. "The five-year and growing lag inherently prejudices the ability of the Court and the beneficiaries to provide effective oversight. But the fact that this delay obscured the payment of non-contractual $125,000 and $250,000 gifts to Counsel is even more troubling."

"No client would give such gifts to her lawyers out of her own pocket. Worse still, Counsel made the payments knowing that the beneficiaries long ago objected to the practice, and were less than forthcoming in their belated disclosures," the filing continued. "At a minimum, these gratuities, and counsel’s preposterous declarations in support of them, raise red flags."

The singer said it's "painful to admit," but she believes "the present records suggest a group of closely-knit, highly-compensated lawyers is exploiting Executors’ lack of oversight to skim money from the Estate, in plain view."

Paris noted that in 2018, she talked to the executors "discreetly" to address the attorneys rewarding themselves with big checks.

"Counsel apparently ignored this objection, as the Estate paid out at least $500,000 in gifts to counsel just eight months," she pointed out.

"The executors certainly would object to use of their own funds to pay non-contractual six-figure gratuities to a service provider. It is surprising, therefore, that the Executors have not put a stop to this practice — especially after the beneficiaries raised the issue," the statement continued. "This begs the question whether Counsel fully informed Executors about the nature of the gifts they elected to pay to themselves … or kept Executors partially or wholly in the dark."

Paris asked for a third executor be appointed to help straighten out the matter.

Jonathan Steinsapir, an attorney for the Grammy winner's estate, denied the allegations, calling them "baseless and defamatory."

"The historic turnaround and success of the Estate of Michael Jackson on behalf of his children speaks for itself. The Estate’s executors’ business judgment has generated billions of dollars for Michael’s children, and they have used that same business judgment to determine fair compensation for a world-class legal team that helped them achieve these unprecedented results, while also fighting back against baseless attacks against Michael by opportunists seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the estate and its beneficiaries," he explained in a statement.

Steinsapir added, "We are confident that the Court will reject them outright and will again approve the estate’s accountings as it has done numerous times over the last sixteen years."