Michael Jackson's Estate Made Billions — So Why Is His Daughter Fighting It?

Paris Jackson wants more than half a billion dollars moved out of her late father's estate. Not into her personal bank account, but into the trust Michael Jackson created for her and her brothers. Still, it's a curious battle to wage against the team that transformed the King of Pop's financially troubled estate into a multibillion-dollar empire.

In an Oct. 29 petition, Paris, 28, argued that the family trust remains unfunded more than 17 years after her father's death. She cited approximately $850 million in estate cash and equivalents at the end of 2024, claiming roughly $600 million could be transferred after accounting for liabilities. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4.

The estate has pushed back, calling allegations that it withheld or reduced payments to Michael's beneficiaries "a complete fabrication." It told People that more than $200 million has already been distributed for their benefit. Estate attorney Jonathan Steinsapir has also defended executor John Branca's stewardship, saying in an August 2025 statement that the estate's "historic turnaround and success" speak for themselves.

There's another wrinkle. Michael's 2002 will directed his assets into the family trust, whose provisions, as described in Paris's petition, allow his children to receive income beginning at 21. Outright distributions of principal, however, don't begin until 30, with additional installments at 35 and 40. None of the siblings has reached 30.

Paris isn't demanding early access to that principal. She wants the trust funded now. The estate maintains that unresolved IRS litigation, originally involving approximately $700 million in taxes and penalties, prevents it from fully doing so.

Meanwhile, the numbers are difficult to overlook.

Michael died in 2009 with at least $450 million in debt. Since then, Forbes estimates his estate has generated more than $3.5 billion. Branca, whom Michael personally named co-executor, helped negotiate the singer's landmark $47.5 million purchase of the ATV Music Publishing catalog in 1985 and later helped transform his final rehearsal footage into the blockbuster concert film This Is It.

The success hasn't slowed. The 2026 biopic Michael became the first biographical film to cross $1 billion worldwide, while MJ: The Musical and Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson ONE continue bringing his work to audiences.

Paris was skeptical of the biopic long before it hit theaters. In September 2025, she criticized an early script on Instagram Stories, saying her feedback about inaccuracies had gone unaddressed. Calling the project "sugar-coated," she alleged, "The narrative is being controlled. There's a lot of inaccuracy and there's a lot of full-blown lies." She also said the film catered to a section of her father's fandom that "still lives in the fantasy."

Other relatives were far more enthusiastic. Her brother Prince Jackson served as an executive producer and was "on set every day," producer Graham King told The Hollywood Reporter. Prince later wrote on Instagram that their cousin Jaafar, the son of Jermaine Jackson, was "the only right choice" to portray Michael.

For Aunt La Toya Jackson, the family's involvement was "very important" because relatives could "say yay or nay" about the story. Uncle Marlon Jackson didn’t spot any inaccuracies, according to E! News, and cousin Taj Jackson took aim at the critics directly. "Sorry media, u don’t get to control the narrative anymore of who Michael Jackson truly was. The public gets to watch this movie…they will decide for themselves," he wrote on X.

Away from the movie, Paris’s earlier objections to the estate’s spending have already produced some tangible results.

In an April 29 ruling made public in May, retired Judge Mitchell Beckloff ordered $625,000 in insufficiently justified bonuses paid to outside estate attorneys returned. He also credited Paris as the "catalyst" behind an order requiring six years of attorney-fee petitions to be filed. Yet even while siding with her, Beckloff praised the executors for turning an estate once "teetering on the brink of bankruptcy" into the "financial powerhouse" it is today.

Not every legal maneuver has gone her way. In November 2025, Beckloff struck portions of a previous petition under California's anti-SLAPP law. The estate subsequently sought more than $115,000 in legal fees and costs.

An attempted compromise also hit a snag. According to court filings obtained by TMZ, an attorney for Paris's younger brother Bigi Jackson, formerly known as Blanket, helped negotiate proposed accounting changes, including court approval for law-firm bonuses. The executors claimed Paris backed away from the arrangement and proposed substantially different terms. Her camp countered that the estate wanted exceptions that would undermine the safeguards.

Then came a dispute over who pays the lawyers. Following her $625,000 victory, Paris's attorneys requested approximately $1.16 million in reimbursement. Branca objected, arguing that the request included charges stemming from unrelated proceedings.

The mounting costs have also raised questions about the advice surrounding wealthy heirs. In a May interview with NewsNation, former Jackson attorney L. Londell McMillan spoke broadly about the influence outsiders can have on beneficiaries of major fortunes, without making specific accusations against Paris's attorneys.

"They're often manipulated, and people are in their ears," he warned.