Jackson's Former Wife May Regain Custody of Children
The custody arrangements for Michael Jackson's three children are unclear, but lawyers say that they may soon be reunited with the mother of the eldest
The custody arrangements for Michael Jackson's three children are unclear, but lawyers familiar with the case said that they may soon be reunited with the mother of the eldest two, or remain in the care of the late singer's mother, Katherine.
Jackson had two children, Prince Michael Junior and Paris Michael Katherine, with his former nurse, Debbie Rowe, whom he married in 1996. After they divorced, in 1999, Jackson took sole responsibility for the children's upbringing after Rowe apparently relinquished custody.
He had a third child, Prince Michael II, in 2002 with a mystery surrogate mother whom he never met.
Later, Jackson caused an outcry by dangling the baby over a third-floor hotel balcony. He subsequently said he regretted the incident. As well as naming the children after himself, Jackson literally shielded them from the media, covering their faces with masks or hoods when they appeared in public.
According to Brian Oxman, a Jackson family lawyer, the three children are likely to be looked after by Jackson's mother.
"Probably Mrs Jackson will take care of them, she loves them dearly," Oxman told the celebrity website Radaronline.
According to court documents posted on the TMZ website, Rowe understood she would have no rights over her two children in the event of Jackson's death.
Asked what she would do if he died, she replied: "I'm sure he has a wonderful person in mind to take care of them."
But a Californian attorney, Gloria Allred, who was involved in the two sexual abuse cases against Jackson, told the Guardian that Rowe may still obtain custody of the children.
She said a court could award Rowe her biological children and that the court could want the three children to remain together and so also give her custody of the youngest.
Allred said Jackson may have stated in his will his desire for the children's care, but she said Jackson's preference is not binding.
"You cannot will a child to someone else, because children are not property," she said. "The court will give weight to the decedent parent's wishes … The court always retains the right to decide what's in the best interest of the children."
Jackson's children are unlikely to be the only young people now in the spotlight. Jordan Chandler and Gavin Arvizo were the two boys who separately alleged they had been sexually abused by Jackson.
In 1993, Chandler, then 13, claimed he had been molested by the singer and his father filed a civil lawsuit.
Jackson denied the allegations, saying: "There have been many disgusting statements made recently concerning allegations of improper conduct on my part. These statements about me are totally false." He agreed to settle the case out of court. Estimates of the undisclosed settlement range between $2m (£1.1m) and $50m.
A decade later, Jackson told the British journalist Martin Bashir, making a documentary for ITV, that he sometimes slept in the same bed as other people's children.
He said: "It's very loving. What's wrong with sharing a love?"
Nine months later, more than 70 officers arrived at Jackson's Neverland ranch, in California, to look for evidence that he had sex with Arviso, then a 13-year-old boy with cancer whose treatment Jackson had paid for.
In December 2003, it emerged that Jackson had been charged with seven counts of child molestation and two of administering alcohol to a child for the purpose of committing a felony.
The following February Jackson pleaded not guilty. In June 2005, he was cleared of all charges.
Chandler and Arvizo, who are now 29 and 19, have yet to speak publicly about Jackson's death, but media organizations are known to be trying to track them down.
Jackson had two children, Prince Michael Junior and Paris Michael Katherine, with his former nurse, Debbie Rowe, whom he married in 1996. After they divorced, in 1999, Jackson took sole responsibility for the children's upbringing after Rowe apparently relinquished custody.
He had a third child, Prince Michael II, in 2002 with a mystery surrogate mother whom he never met.
Later, Jackson caused an outcry by dangling the baby over a third-floor hotel balcony. He subsequently said he regretted the incident. As well as naming the children after himself, Jackson literally shielded them from the media, covering their faces with masks or hoods when they appeared in public.
According to Brian Oxman, a Jackson family lawyer, the three children are likely to be looked after by Jackson's mother.
"Probably Mrs Jackson will take care of them, she loves them dearly," Oxman told the celebrity website Radaronline.
According to court documents posted on the TMZ website, Rowe understood she would have no rights over her two children in the event of Jackson's death.
Asked what she would do if he died, she replied: "I'm sure he has a wonderful person in mind to take care of them."
But a Californian attorney, Gloria Allred, who was involved in the two sexual abuse cases against Jackson, told the Guardian that Rowe may still obtain custody of the children.
She said a court could award Rowe her biological children and that the court could want the three children to remain together and so also give her custody of the youngest.
Allred said Jackson may have stated in his will his desire for the children's care, but she said Jackson's preference is not binding.
"You cannot will a child to someone else, because children are not property," she said. "The court will give weight to the decedent parent's wishes … The court always retains the right to decide what's in the best interest of the children."
Jackson's children are unlikely to be the only young people now in the spotlight. Jordan Chandler and Gavin Arvizo were the two boys who separately alleged they had been sexually abused by Jackson.
In 1993, Chandler, then 13, claimed he had been molested by the singer and his father filed a civil lawsuit.
Jackson denied the allegations, saying: "There have been many disgusting statements made recently concerning allegations of improper conduct on my part. These statements about me are totally false." He agreed to settle the case out of court. Estimates of the undisclosed settlement range between $2m (£1.1m) and $50m.
A decade later, Jackson told the British journalist Martin Bashir, making a documentary for ITV, that he sometimes slept in the same bed as other people's children.
He said: "It's very loving. What's wrong with sharing a love?"
Nine months later, more than 70 officers arrived at Jackson's Neverland ranch, in California, to look for evidence that he had sex with Arviso, then a 13-year-old boy with cancer whose treatment Jackson had paid for.
In December 2003, it emerged that Jackson had been charged with seven counts of child molestation and two of administering alcohol to a child for the purpose of committing a felony.
The following February Jackson pleaded not guilty. In June 2005, he was cleared of all charges.
Chandler and Arvizo, who are now 29 and 19, have yet to speak publicly about Jackson's death, but media organizations are known to be trying to track them down.
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