From the ArcaMax Publishing, Entertainment News Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/entertainmenttoday/s-574054-472516
LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- A will written in 2002 by the late pop superstar
Michael Jackson was filed in Los Angeles Wednesday, officials said.
The document was filed by a lawyer representing Jackson's estate, Los
Angeles County Superior Court officials told CNN, which reported it
specifically cuts out his former wife and the presumed mother of his
two eldest children, Debbie Rowe.
"I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife," the
broadcaster quoted the will as saying.
In the document, Jackson also names singer Diana Ross as his alternate
choice of guardian for his children in the event his mother, Katherine
Jackson, 79, is unable to raise Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and
Michael Prince "Blanket" II, 7, E! Online reported.
"If any of my children are minors at the time of my death, I nominate
my mother, Katherine Jackson, as guardian of the persons and estates
of such minor children," the will says. "If Katherine Jackson fails to
survive me, or is unable or unwilling to act as guardian, I nominate
Diana Ross as guardian of the persons and estates of such minor
children."
As previously reported, E! Online said Jackson's will also stipulates
all his estate and assets be placed in the private Michael Jackson
Family Trust.
Longtime entertainment lawyer John Branca and family friend and music
producer John McClain are were named as executors of the estate.
"The most important element of Michael's will is his unwavering desire
that his mother, Katherine, become the legal guardian for his three
children," Branca and McClain said in a joint statement Wednesday. "As
we work to carry out Michael's instructions to safeguard both the
future of his children as well as the remarkable legacy he left us as
an artist we ask that all matters involving his estate be handled with
the dignity and the respect that Michael and his family deserve."