Michael Jackson Estate Files $115K Legal Fees in Paris Jackson Court Battle

 Michael Jackson Estate Files $115K Legal Fees in Paris Jackson Court Battle

Michael Jackson Estate Files $115K Legal Fees in Paris Jackson Court Battle

The legal battle over Michael Jackson’s estate continues — and in the latest filing, attorneys for the star’s estate executors have told the judge they're owed $115,000 in costs and attorney’s fees.

Attorneys for estate executors John McClain and John Branca filed documents in a Los Angeles court on Friday, Jan. 9, itemizing and explaining all of the fees and costs they’re owed for time spent researching and responding to a motion filed by Jackson’s daughter Paris, one of the beneficiaries of his estate.

The filings, which were obtained by PEOPLE, indicate that Branca and McClain’s attorneys are seeking $93,924.63 in fees and $1,238.39 in costs connected to their anti-SLAPP motion alone, which was filed last year and granted in November, among other costs and fees related to recovering the funds.

Upon granting the anti-SLAPP motion, the court struck down allegations put forth by Paris, 27, in a July petition. The purpose of the motion filed Jan. 9 was to “account for the fees and costs incurred by the Executors in connection with the anti-SLAPP motion so that the Court can determine the amount of the award,” according to the filing. The executors are entitled to the reimbursement because they won the anti-SLAPP motion.

Paris Jackson at Paris Fashion Week in October 2025.

Gilbert Flores/WWD/Getty

Still, a spokesperson for Paris spun the filing as a money play by the executors.

"For months, Paris Jackson has worked to address what appear to be troubling discrepancies and financial irregularities in the administration of her father's estate,” a spokesperson for Paris told PEOPLE in a statement. “It's no surprise the executors and their lawyers are using every tool at their disposal to take even more money from the Jackson family and use it to line their own pockets. Paris remains undeterred and will continue fighting for transparency, accountability and fairness for her family."

Paris is the beneficiary of Jackson’s estate along with her brothers Prince, 28, and Bigi, 23. In November, she filed a new legal document claiming that Branca and McClain have abused their roles as estate executors in order to pad their own pockets.

She alleged that in 2021 alone, they’d pocketed more than $10 million in compensation from the "Thriller" singer’s estate, which was allegedly “more than double the amount distributed to any beneficiary from the family allowance.”

The executors, meanwhile, filed a motion in October claiming Paris has received approximately $65 million in benefits from the estate.

Jackson was over $500 million in debt when he died in 2009, and in the filing, the executors claimed to have taken the struggling estate and turned it into a “powerhouse and a force in the music business.”

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