While the world reacts to the death of arguably the most well known, loved, and in some cases hated artist of our time, each person I speak with is dealing differently.  The night club across from my office jammed Jackson’s tunes outside all day after the story broke, my mother is talking about how he was clearly Bodhisattva and she hopes he is reborn to better parents, but somehow I can’t stop myself from wondering about his estate, and the incredible legal mess that has been left behind.

Will he or Will he not?

There was an incredible level of speculation concerning Jackson’s will.  On the day after his passing, not only did I hear conflicting reports about almost every detail of the specific nature of his personal family, financial, and medical situation, but a Cleveland radio station somehow got wind that Michael had left all of his share of the controversially obtained Beatles catalog to Paul McCartney.

Now that Jackson’s will has been filed in court, some things are clearer, while others are not.  The Jackson estate  will be placed in the Jackson Family Trust, (Sorry Paul!) but documents pertaining to this trust are not publicly available yet.  It is clear from the document that Mike had specifically written his ex wife Debbie Rowe out of the will, but reports suggest that this might not be so easy.  While Mike’s mom has been nominated in the will as a possible custodian, Debbie Rowe never gave up parental rights during a custody battle years ago, and as a result Ms. Rowe is well placed to argue for custody.  Unfortunately, the person who eventually does take on permanent responsibility for these children will most likely be given money from the trust with which to care for them.  This could make it worth Ms. Rowe’s time to try getting custody.

Sadly, due to the long standing public knowledge of  the child abuse against Mike by his father, Joseph, may make it difficult for Katherine to gain custody as Mike had wished it.  Debbie Rowe would then likely be granted custody, but as Debbie has no parental rights with Blanket, the youngest child and the product of donated genetic material and a surrogate mother, and because she has had limited contact with the children in the last couple years, and additionally because keeping the children together could be a main consideration of the court, it could be determined that Ms. Rowe is not the most fit possible custodian.  Diana Ross would be the next most likely person to take custody, as Mike had nominated her in his will.  This will definitely be a long and difficult legal mess due to the high profile nature of the case, the possible monetary benefits for whoever is granted , and the difficulty of determining  a clear best option (or even the least horrible option) for Prince Michael, Paris, and Prince Michael II, aka “Blanket”.

Medical Malpractice or Foul Play?

There are a few facts that will matter greatly to the possibility that Michael Jackson’s death could be a legally punishable event for his doctor, Conrad Robert Murray M.D.  According to the news this morning a group of doctors, including live in physician Conrad Murray, had been prescribing medications to Jackson under several aliases.  There are also reports that friends of Jackson thought that his drug habit was a problem, and that Jackson had received an injection of Demerol shortly before his death.  The exact cause of death is currently deferred pending toxicology tests.  This in conjunction with the police confiscation of Dr. Murray’s car for the purpose of determining the prescriptions given at the time of death at least suggests that investigations are being guided by a suspicion that Jackson died as a result of his prescribed drugs.  In malpractice cases, the relevant standard of medical treatment is usually determined by expert witnesses.  That is to say that a doctor familiar with the medical issues that Michael was dealing with would be asked to testify in order to establish what sort of treatment would be medically sound considering his specific medical problems.  The serious medical misconduct relating to irregularities with prescribed drugs in conjunction with the possibility that Jackson’s death could have resulted directly from his medical treatment (Demerol is a less and less commonly intravenously administered drug with the ability to slow breathing.  This is exactly what has been reported according to witnesses, and doctors in the news are mostly in agreement that this could have been what did it, and that it was a bad idea to be injecting the stuff.) will likely make finding an expert to testify in support of malpractice relatively easy. Assuming that the Jackson family or any other relevant party could find a way to show emotional (relatively easy considering the international outpouring of emotional distress) or pecuniary damages (probably way easier because this can be directly documented), a pretty solid case could be made.

There is also the matter of Joe Jackson suggesting that there was foul play at the BET event in memory of Mike.  While coroners ruled out the possibility of foul play, things may change when the toxicology report comes back in several weeks.  There is one main conclusion that it is easy to come to as of today.  There have been drastic changes in the facts surrounding this case on a daily basis.  Look out for updates in the next few weeks.

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