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Paris Jackson Wins Court Ruling in Fight Over Michael Jackson Estate Bonuses
A Los Angeles judge ruled that $625,000 in estate bonus payments must be returned, giving Paris Jackson a win over executors.
Paris Jackson has scored a significant win in her ongoing fight with the executors of Michael Jackson’s estate, after a Los Angeles judge ruled that $625,000 in bonuses paid to three outside law firms should be returned to the estate.
The ruling, issued last month, sided with Paris in her dispute over the finances overseen by estate executors John Branca and John McClain. Judge Mitchell Beckloff found that the payments, made in 2018, were not properly justified and should not have been approved as written.
Paris Jackson attends Universal Music Group’s GRAMMY after party at Nya Studios on February 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
Branca and McClain had argued the bonuses were reasonable compensation for “extraordinary success” and an incentive for hard work. Beckloff wasn’t convinced. In the ruling, obtained by Billboard, he wrote that the bonus amounts “appear arbitrary” and said they looked like what Branca personally thought was appropriate.
Still, the judge also made clear that this was not a wholesale rejection of the executors’ work. He praised Branca and McClain for steering the Jackson estate away from collapse and said they had “provided exceptional services” to Jackson’s heirs. “There can be no dispute that under the expertise of the executors, this estate has transformed from teetering on the brink of bankruptcy … to the financial powerhouse that it is today,” he wrote.
The problem, Beckloff said, was the specific bonus payments to Greenberg Traurig, Saul Ewing, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir. Those firms had already been paid through normal legal billing, and the court said the extra money had not been adequately explained, especially at a level that crossed well over half a million dollars.
“Ms. Jackson’s objection to the $625,000 of bonus payments made in the second six months of 2018 is sustained,” the ruling states. “The bonus payments are not approved; they are disallowed.” Beckloff also said similar payments can’t move forward in the future without either a court order or written consent from every estate beneficiary.
In a statement to Billboard on Wednesday (May 13), the executors emphasized the judge’s praise for their handling of the estate and pushed back on any suggestion that they had personally acted improperly. They said the ruling “did not in any way say that the executors had made any inappropriate payments to themselves.”
“Ultimately, while we disagree with the decision, we fully respect it and plan to move forward accordingly,” they added.
Paris’ camp framed the decision very differently. A spokesperson called it a “massive win” for the Jackson family, saying it would bring the transparency and accountability she has been pushing for. In a stronger statement, Paris said the estate is supposed to serve the family responsibly, not function as “a slush fund to help John Branca live out his Hollywood mogul fantasies.” She also accused Branca of using “sexist, scorched-earth tactics” against a beneficiary and urged him to act in the family’s best interest.
Paris has been challenging Branca and McClain for months. In November, she argued that their work, including the now-released Michael biopic, was aimed at enriching themselves rather than helping the family. She pointed to the casting of Miles Teller as Branca in the film as part of that criticism.
Months later, the executors hit back, calling her objections “a profound waste of the court’s time and, ironically, the estate’s money.” They pointed to their record of building the estate’s value, an argument they were making even before Michael later became a box office smash.
