Paris Jackson is challenging the management of her late father Michael Jackson’s estate, filing a new objection in Los Angeles court on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old says the estate’s executors, John Branca and John McClain, have misused their authority and benefited financially while delaying transparency.
According to the filing, Paris and her brothers — Prince, 28, and Bigi, 23 — didn’t receive the estate’s 2021 accounting until September of this year, roughly four years late. She raises concerns over what she calls “enormous sums of cash” that remain untouched and uninvested under the executors’ control.
“Paris is increasingly concerned the Estate has become the vehicle for John Branca to enrich and aggrandize himself, rather than serve the beneficiaries’ best interests and steadfastly preserve her father’s legacy,” the filing states.
A source close to the estate dismissed the claims, saying, “This is another misguided attempt by Paris Jackson’s attorneys to provide themselves cover… All the beneficiaries are well taken care of by the Estate. This is a weak attempt to change the narrative of their loss.”
Paris alleges the executors collected more than $10 million in compensation in 2021 alone — “more than double” what any beneficiary received that year. She estimates total executor compensation through 2021 at $148.2 million.
She also says more than $464 million in estate cash is sitting in accounts earning “less than 0.1%,” arguing that smarter investments could have generated around $41 million.
Her filing questions the executors’ involvement in “risky” entertainment ventures, including the upcoming biopic Michael, where Branca serves as an executive producer.
She claims the estate has “morphed into a private entertainment investment fund managed more for the benefit of Executors and their counsel than its beneficiaries.”
Paris is asking the court to reject the current accounting and compel a full, corrected version. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.