Michael Jackson’s daughter locked in $2bn estate war as $65m payout exposed

New court filings have revealed that Paris Jackson has received around £53 million (roughly $65 million) in benefits from her late father Michael Jackson’s estate. The disclosure was made on 9 October 2025, in response to Paris’s ongoing legal challenge against the estate’s executors, marking a new chapter in the increasingly tense family dispute over transparency and finances.

Paris, now 27, has questioned what she calls ‘premium payouts’ to lawyers for allegedly unrecorded work, claiming that these bonuses were granted without sufficient justification or proper court approval. Her legal team alleges that three law firms were collectively awarded more than $625,000 in 2018 for unlogged time, breaching previous court orders that required judicial consent before such fees could be paid.

The executors, however, have strongly rejected those claims, arguing that the attorneys were ‘instrumental and critical’ in turning the once debt-ridden estate into a global powerhouse. Their new filing insists that Paris herself has been one of the greatest beneficiaries of the estate’s success, highlighting that she would not have received such immense financial rewards had the executors not rebuilt the empire from its posthumous collapse.

When Michael Jackson died in 2009, he reportedly left behind debts exceeding $500 million and more than 60 creditors. Since then, his estate has become one of the most profitable in the entertainment world, now estimated to be worth over $2 billion, thanks to music catalogues, film rights and renewed licensing deals.

Paris’s petition also seeks to overturn a 2010 order that allows the executors to pay legal fees without prior court approval. In response, the estate’s legal representatives have accused her of violating California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which protects legal filings from frivolous lawsuits.

Despite the legal tension, the estate’s team maintains that the payouts were justified and proportionate to the estate’s growth. The next court hearing is scheduled for 16 October, with both sides expected to present new evidence.