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Michael Jackson’s Mom Makes Costly Legal Mistake

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Michael Jackson’s beloved 80-year-old mother,’Katherine, made what could be a costly legal mistake’yesterday in a Los Angeles court.

Katherine Jackson got temporary custody’of Michael’s three children (you’ll notice she filed alone and not with her husband of 60 years).

She also filed a claim on Michael’s estate, saying he died intestate, or without a will. But anyone who reads this column knew days ago that Michael had executed a will with attorney John Branca, and that it was waiting to be opened on Monday.

While Mrs. Jackson was in court, Branca was indeed studying the will. I am told it will be presented to the court and filed in the next day or so.

But wait: if Mrs. Jackson gets her way, legal eagles assure me, and the court decides Michael had no will, then Mrs. J gets nothing. Michael’s direct heirs’his three kids’would be the sole beneficiaries.

Whoops!

As it turns out, accepting Michael’s will with Branca is better for Mrs. Jackson. Insiders say that Michael took excellent care of her along with the children. Together they are the primary beneficiaries.

There is no information yet whether Michael left anything to anyone else. But the thinking is that Janet Jackson has her own money, LaToya already received money from Michael and that he’s probably left his brothers to fend for themselves. As for Joseph Jackson, who witnesses say used to lock Michael in a closet as a child when his Jackson 5 rehearsals didn’t go well, you can bet there’s no provision for him.

Indeed, even Mrs. Jackson’s inheritance will be parcelled out, they say, so she gets money “as needed.” Her husband’who brought a Michael Jackson imitator to the BET Awards on Sunday night’will not be’ able to share in it particularly.

Meantime, burial arrangements and funeral services remain undecided for Michael, who died four days ago. There are said to be two different factions within the Jackson family, plenty of disagreement, and lots of tension overall. It’s too bad. You’d think the family would come together and resolve this issue quickly with dignity for Michael’s sake. The easiest solution: a mausoleum at Forest Lawn, where other mega-celebrities have found their final rest. Michael would be very much at home with the likes of Lucille Ball, Lou Rawls, and Liberace.

Jackson Family: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

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Will Michael Jackson’s last will and testament be honored by his relatives?

That’s the question right now as the Jackson family and Michael’s team try to figure out what exactly is going on and who is in charge.

As it stands now, Jackson has left a signed will with former attorney and partner John Branca. Branca was the lawyer who helped Jackson buy ATV Music Publishing in the 1980s, then merge with Sony Music Publishing in the early 90s. The result was like giving Jackson a billion-dollar bank account, which he leveraged over and over to accomodate his huge financial needs.

But the plot thickens: never one to shy away from trying to get a piece of his son’s action, Joseph Jackson has now gone on People.com complaining that the family is being kept in the dark about Michael’s will. Of course, Jackson knows that anything he says right now will just be picked up by the press, whether it’s accurate or not.

The fact is, the Jackson family, according to my sources, hasn’t even contacted anyone from Michael’s legal team. And Joseph Jackson‘who is said to have instigated a lawsuit against Michael by All Good Productions over the promise of a family concert in New Jersey’can’t be too happy that he’s not the executor of his son’s estate.

As I’ve noted before, Joseph Jackson called this reporter with concert promoter Leonard Rowe shortly after Michael’s AEG Live deal was completed.’ He told me he needed my help because they were going to “fix” what was wrong with the deal and take it over. I told him I didn’t think that was possible, and he hung up after several minutes of bickering.

Indeed, the only known existing will sits in a safe at attorney John Branca’s office in Century City. So far, Branca has been out of town. It may not be until Monday before he returns and offers the will for probate, sources say.

Branca, as I’ve noted before, is’Michael Jackson’s children’s best possible advocate at the moment, and the only assurance they have of not being ripped off in the long run.

Grace-less Nanny Sells Out Jacko

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How long has Michael Jackson been dead? Two minutes? The woman who worked for him for 14 years, who served as nanny to his kids and protector of his privacy, has already sold him out.

Grace Rwaramba has sold an interview to blood-sucking-celebrity vampire Daphne Barak. The story appears in today’s Times of London.

Rwaramba, who was given a four-star life by Jackson, now reveals he was a drug-addled nut whose stomach she personally pumped. Many times, no less.

Rwaramba has nothing nice to say about Jackson. She does say he was broke all the time, took advantage of everyone, and was a bad father to boot.

Jackson eventually fired Grace, a woman who was universally despised by his family and professional associates. But his reward for giving her a lavish lifestyle is this:’ no good turn goes unpunished.

Interestingly, it was Barak who paid Michael’s parents for a TV interview in 2005 while he was on trial. Now Rwaramba has done the exact same thing.

She tells Barak that Michael fended off an “intervention” that she was part of while he lived in Las Vegas.

But I can tell you that during that time, Jackson’s family tried to see him. It was Rwaramba who wouldn’t let them in.

The nanny’s testimony is a sellout, a cash-in, and pathetic. Whatever value she had is gone. Let’s ignore her, and hope she goes away.

Jacko 911 Call Made by Security Guard

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A security guard by the name of Alberto who worked at Michael Jackson’s rented Bel Air estate’his last name still unknown”made the famous 911 call to police on Thursday. It was not someone named “Tippy,” as reported by the New York Post.

Further, Jackson’s manager, Frank DiLeo, was not at the house when Jackson collapsed. DiLeo was at his hotel in Los Angeles, received a call about Jackson, and rushed to the hospital. The Post has that wrong, too.

None of Jackson’s kids were present when he collapsed, I am told. They were in the house but not in the room with Jackson and Dr. Conrad Murray.

Dr. Murray’s attorney, Matt Alford, tells TMZ that Dr. Murray met Jackson in 2006. That’s unlikely. Jackson was living in Bahrain from January to June 2006, when he then moved to Ireland. He stayed in Ireland through the end of that year.

More likely, insiders say, Murray was introduced to Jackson in the last year by Tohme Tohme, representative of Colony Capital LLC and Jackson’s manager for the last year.

The New York Post also made two more mistakes today: Janet Jackson is not the executor of Michael’s estate. Attorney John Branca is, so far. Janet Jackson has no “papers,” as alluded to in the Post.

But in a two-line story today, the Post also lifted this column’s Neverland-as-Graceland story as filler, without credit.

TMZ Acquires Stolen Facebook Photos of Jacko

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Al Malnik, Michael Jackson’s friend and mentor from Florida, is not happy this morning with TMZ.

The pay-for-play website has published personal photographs belonging to Malnik and’his wife, Nancy, of Michael,’his three kids, the Malniks and friends that were taken about five or six years ago.

Nancy’Malnik tells me’she posted the photographs to friends only, with all the’restrictions necessary, on her Facebook page. One of her 200 or so Facebook “friends” evidently copied 20 of the pictures and sold them to TMZ without permission.

“I can’t’believe it,” Nancy Malnik told me this’morning. “I’ve looked through the list’and can’t figure out who would’do such a thing.”

Meantime, Al Malnik cleared up for me a confusion that’s been out in the media. He does not have a 2004 will from Michael’Jackson and was never appointed his executor. Michael simply asked him if he’d be the executor of his will. “But I never heard anything about it again,” Malnik told me. Malnik did sign a notarized agreement making him godfather to Michael’s third child, Prince Michael II aka Blanket.

As far as TMZ is concerned, they’re on notice for publishing purloined photos.

Michael Jackson Burial Could Be At Neverland

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What’s the hold up with Michael Jackson funeral arrangements? I am told that there is right now a discussion going on within his family and advisors about burying him at Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California.
michael jackson Michael Jackson Burial Could Be At Neverland
Sources tell me that the proposal came from Tohme Tohme, Jackson’s former manager, the non doctor and special ambassador to Senegal. Tohme works with Colony Capital LLC, the firm that holds the mortgage note on Neverland. Their idea is to turn Neverland into Graceland, with Jackson’s grave the central attraction.

This isn’t so easy. For one thing, as lawyers have pointed out, you can’t simply bury someone in your backyard. Permits are required. For another, the town of Los Olivos was sounded out about a “Graceland” idea a long time ago and rejected it. Neverland is on a two-lane country road across from a school way in the hills along the Santa Ynez Valley. The locals feel it’s not equipped for that kind of traffic.

But the Graceland plan is being pushed by Colony and Tohme, as Tohme agitates for it within a split and confused family. Much discussion is going on right now, especially among Michael’s brothers, about ways to maximize his estate’in other words make money.

“Michael would be mortified to know this,” one of his business associates said to me today, and I agree. I am personally mortified for Jackson, knowing not only how private he was, but how much he did not want his family mixing in his business.

Nevertheless, in death Michael will not be able to control the things he kept a tight leash on in life. Already, his sister Janet invaded his space today by bringing moving trucks to his rented home in Bel Air and emptying it of all his belongings. On Friday, sources tell me, LaToya Jackson also went to the rented house, presumably to look for bags or suitcases full of cash’that Michael may have hidden in various locations.

Janet, Brothers May Do MJ Tribute Tour

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In the chaos surrounding Michael Jackson’s death, there is no limit to the rumors, wild speculations, and self-motivated people who are making pronouncements everywhere’on TV, the Internet, and in print.

Still, my readers know that Showbiz411 sources are rock solid. And these sources are telling me that on the table for consideration is a Janet Jackson/Jackson Brothers tribute tour to celebrate the life of Michael Jackson.

As with everything else concerning Michael and his family, Michael would be horrified to hear this. He’s not even in his grave, but his soul is no doubt spinning. With the exception of’Jermaine, and Janet, Michael had little interest in his family.

Nevertheless, the proposal is either that the Jacksons fulfill some of Michael’s London shows, or do a U.S. tour where they would perform his hits and theirs with him. Janet would be the star of such a show, substituting for Michael since none of the brothers would be remotely capable of being the lead performer.

Stay tuned, as this is among many ideas to honor (exploit?) Michael takes shape.

And the word is that at least some or all of the Jacksons may turn up on tomorrow night’s BET Awards live from Los Angeles, hosted by Jamie Foxx. The appearance could be step one in showing family unity.

Will The Real Jackson Family “Experts” Please Stand Up?

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Jackson manager Frank DiLeo raced to UCLA Medical Center when he got the news, and he was with the family when they had to face the awful truth about Michael’s condition. Luckily, he’s been close to both of Jackson’s parents for years, and is considered one of the family. They’ll need his counsel now.

What the Jacksons won’t need is the conga line of family “friends” and experts who are lining up to do every TV show and interview program. The weekend looks like it will be jam-packed with these people, from Brian Oxman‘and Shmuley Boteach to Uri Geller and Diane Dimond. This morning on the “Today” show, child-actor-turned-reality-TV-star (and rehabbed druggie) Corey Feldman conceded to Meredith Vieira that he hadn’t even seen or spoken to Michael in seven years.

Did Jacko Leave a Will? Neverland, Beatles Catalog At Stake

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Michael Jackson is just hours dead and days away from being buried, but plenty of questions are being asked.

One of them is: did he leave a will? And either way, who gets the Beatles catalog?

Jackson died nearly $400 million in debt, with three children and two mortgages. And all of it is hinged to his 50% ownership in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the company that contains the catalog of 251 Lennon and McCartney songs from “Yesterday” to “Give Peace a Chance.”

Sony Music has the right of first refusal to buy Jackson’s half of the company. To settle his estate, whoever the trustee and executor are may eventually be forced to make that sale.

Jackson owes HSBC and Barclays Bank over $320 million secured by that asset.

Then there’s the case of Neverland. Colony Capital LLC has the note on the property. It’s unclear how much their refinancing of Neverland gave to Jackson, but it could have been around $25 million over the $23 million on the ranch. It’s what Jackson was living on for cash in the last year. Neverland, now, will be sold.

Jackson has one other asset, his MiJac Music Publishing, which contains his own songs, and those of artists like Sly and the Family Stone.

Of course, there’s also the issue of what, if anything, he’s owed by AEG Live, the company for whom he was supposed to perform 50 concerts. AEG had to insure the shows itself because no one else would do it.

There’s also an outstanding and unresolved problem concerning Jackson’s personal belongings from Neverland. They are currently in storage after last April’s aborted auction. Jackson’s ex manager,’Tohme Tohme, paid off Julien’s Auctions and took everything. Jackson’s estate may have to sue to get it all back. Tohme currently has the key and access to the material — possibly several hundred million dollars’ worth.

And that’s just the beginning. But the first order of business will be finding a valid will. Right now, sources I’ve spoken with aren’t sure who has that, or when it was last updated, or what it reflects. If Jackson’s estate is not in proper order, expect a doozy of a fight.

Michael Jackson’s “Personal Physician” Was No Doctor

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Reports are filtering out’even Jermaine Jackson mentioned it in his statement’that Michael Jackson’s “personal physician” was with him yesterday when he suffered what seems to be massive cardiac arrest.

Some of the reports say that the “physician” was a “Dr. Tohme Tohme.” Let’s hope not.

Mr. Tohme is not a licensed physician anywhere. He told me that himself several months ago. Tohme claims to have been an orthopedist or orthopedic surgeon at some time, but refuses to give any more details.

What he definitely is, is Jackson’s dismissed manager. His website claims he’s also a special ambassador to Senegal. But calls to the Senegalese Embassy proved fruitless in confirming that claim.

Jackson’s other known personal doctor at the moment, and for over 20 years, is Beverly Hills dermatologist-to-the stars Dr. Arnold Klein. Jackson has been seeing Klein often in recent months, ostensibly for a skin cancer. Debbie Rowe, mother of Jackson’s two eldest children, worked for Klein. That’s where they met.

Jackson has otherwise had a parade of doctors over the years, from Dr. Alimorad Farshchian, the Florida vitamin specialist, to Dr. Len Horvitz, a New York physician who treated Jackson’and even hospitalized him’in 1999.

Horvitz told me in 2005 that the hospitalization was due to “exhaustion and dehydration”’a typical Jackson complaint over the years.

Jackson checked into Lenox Hill Hospital in April 1999 under the name “James Walker.”

When he finally checked into Lenox Hill, Jackson was alone most of the time, without any entourage, assistants or pets. Horovitz treated him with IV fluids. The doctor met him because he was answering calls from New York’s Four Seasons Hotel, where Jackson was staying.

“My job was to hydrate him quickly,” the doctor recalled. “I put the IV in myself, and there was no one else around.”