Katherine Jackson, 79, was awarded full, permanent guardianship of Michael Jackson's three children during a custody hearing in Los Angeles this morning.
Here's the hearing blow-by-blow from TMZ, which was on hand for the proceedings this morning. As you can see, everything went down more or less as expected, although there were some odd twists (and a Mark Vincent Kaplan sighting) in there ...
11:56 a.m.: Katherine, Randy and La Toya Jackson arrived and were escorted upstairs to the courtroom. Rebbie Jackson, Michael's older sister, also showed up. Reports suggest that, day to day, she will be the one taking care of Michael's kids.
12:14 p.m.: The judge took the bench, and said that he will be dealing with the guardianship settlement between Katherine Jackson and Debbie Rowe first.
12:17 p.m.: In a strange development, Mark Vincent Kaplan (K-Fed's lawyer) just showed up on behalf of Dr. Arnold Klein. Kaplan says Klein has a "long-standing commitment" to Michael Jackson and has concerns about Joe Jackson being involved.
There are reports Arnold Klein is their biological father, but he hasn't confirmed or denied that, only saying "to the best of his knowledge" he is not.
12:18 p.m.: The judge wanted to know what legal standing Dr. Arnold Klein has, but he ultimately ruled that Klein has no legal standing to lodge an objection, and that Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe are the parents of the children.
Today's players: Arnold Klein, Debbie Rowe and Katherine Jackson.
12:26 p.m.: Debbie Rowe's lawyer, Eric George, just said he won't object to Katherine being appointed temporary guardian, but permanent guardianship could be delayed. Curious, given the supposed settlement between Debbie and Katherine.
12:37 p.m.: The judge named Katherine permanent guardian of all three kids, then granted her a financial allowance for six months. The amount wasn't discussed.
12:40 p.m.: Debbie Rowe will have visitation with her two kids and will continue getting spousal support based on the deal she struck with Michael years ago.
12:42 p.m.: The judge has just granted 83.5 percent of what was requested for the children's allowance. Specific amounts of the allowance were not discussed.
12:55 p.m.: The judge decided on the lesser amount because of concerns about duplicate expenses for the monthly allowance approved for Katherine Jackson.
2:58 p.m.: The judge has ruled that AEG, Michael Jackson's would-be concert promoter, has to provide a copy of their contract with him to Katherine Jackson.
3:00 p.m.: The judge just admitted Michael Jackson's 2002 will into probate. The will names John Branca and John McClain as co-executors. Katherine has an unspecified objection to this. Will she ask that she be named as a third executor?
4:55 p.m.: Katherine Jackson just withdrew her petition asking that she be put in charge of the estate. This petition was filed before she knew a will existed.
5:05 p.m.: Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled that Jackson's longtime attorney Branca and McClain will continue to administer the star's estate until at least October.
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3 Comments
August 3rd, 2009 8:35 PM
Arnold Klein needs to mind his own business, already.
August 4th, 2009 12:05 PM
Michael Jackson is dead and those children are left fatherless because of one fact and one fact only ... MJ was a drug addict! No one else is responsible for MJ's excessive doctor shopping, abuse of prescription drugs, and unwillingness to seek medical treatment for his lengthy drug addiction, but Michael Jackson. I agree with Biff Jones from another thread on this site ... stop trying to re-write the facts of this man's life. He was not an addict b/c of the pepsi accident. MJ was most likely an addict because he suffered from an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. Everything points to a comorbis diagnosis ... bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder. If any thing, we as a society should be very angry that MJ would get a "free" pass and not be held responsible (along with the doctors who mistreated him)for this glaringly obvious misuse and abuse of fame, wealth, and power. A "good" father seeks medical rehabilitation for substance abuse, they do not go go doctor shopping, use fake names to obtain drugs, put themselves 350 million dollars in debt, uproot their children constantly in search of more money and drugs, and lie to their children about the identity of their mothers. MJ was a narcissist, a drug addict, and played the victim to the hilt! Now he has widened his circle of pain and his children will suffer the copnsequences of his selfish action for the rest of their lives.
August 5th, 2009 1:37 PM
You forgot one major Diagnosis. POST TRAUMATIC STRESS, FROM WHITE PRIVILEDGE WHICH IS THE DISEASE THAT IS making America and the Whole world sick. Stop mixing with Whites the Sun is trying to burn them off Earth.