Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / June 2009

Speculation from Salon
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/06/26/jackson_children/index.html
Friday, June 26, 2009 05:27 PDT
What will happen to Michael Jackson's kids?

It's easy to forget that, among all the other things that Michael
Jackson was, he was also a single father. Before his death, the King
of Pop was thought to have sole custody of his three children. Amid
speculation about the underlying cause of Jackson's cardiac arrest and
debate over how the singer will be remembered, another big question
has emerged: Who will take care of the kids?

"I suspect that the death of Michael Jackson is only the beginning of
the legal battles over not only his property, but also his children"

Two of Jackson's children -- 12-year-old Michael Joseph Jackson Jr.
(known as "Prince") and 11-year-old Paris Michael Katherine Jackson --
are the products of his short-lived marriage to nurse Debbie Rowe,
which ended in 1999. The Telegraph reports that Rowe "relinquished all
parental rights after a long legal battle." But a CBS News article
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/26/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main511610
6.shtml
directly contradicts this statement, claiming that, "In 2005, Rowe
battled Jackson over custody and eventually was allowed shared custody
of the children."  Jackson's youngest child, Prince Michael II (known
in the media as "Blanket," after the pop star's notorious window-
dangling debacle), was born in 2002. In an interview, Jackson said
that Blanket was born to a surrogate mother he had never met, using
"my own sperm cells."

Interviews with Jackson's staff seem to reveal two realistic
possibilities for the children. Speaking to Radaronline last night,
the family's lawyer, Brian Oxman, said, "Probably [the children's
grandmother] Mrs. Jackson will take care of them, she loves them
dearly." In the meantime, the kids are said to be in the care of a
nanny. But the Daily Mail, in a piece that puzzles over Jackson's
troubled finances, reports that "a source close to his family said his
ex-wife Debbie Rowe is expected to receive initial custody while long-
term arrangements are sorted out."

No matter who finally obtains custody, lawyers predict that the
Jackson family is in for a rough few months in court. In an interview
with CBS "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith this morning, Oxman said,
"I suspect that the death of Michael Jackson is only the beginning of
the legal battles over not only his property, but also his children."
And while the King of Pop's will -- which has not yet been made public
-- is expected to specify Jackson's choice of guardian, Gloria Allred,
one of Jackson's most public foes, told the N.Y. Daily News, "If the
mother did not relinquish her parental rights, she can seek
custody ... If he indicated in his will the person whom he wishes to
serve as guardian, then the court will give great weight to his
preference." But, says Allred, a judge may also decide to discount
Jackson's will and "do what the court believes is in the children's
best interest."

Whatever happens to Prince, Paris and Blanket, one thing is sure: The
Jackson children will be in for quite an adjustment. According to the
Daily News, the trio is used to a globetrotting lifestyle and "a world
in which new toys arrived as if by magic every day, and included
midnight shopping sprees and bleary-eyed visits to museums and
amusement parks after dark." For now, here's hoping that the Jackson
family -- and the media -- will allow these newly fatherless kids to
mourn in peace.

-- Judy Berman