Courts may decide who controls Jackson's estate

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson's family took steps on Monday to become guardians of his children and take control of his multimillion dollar estate, but lawyers said they could face protracted legal battles.

Jackson's mother, Katherine, won a temporary court order to administer her son's estate after filing legal documents saying her family could not find a will for the singer.

But celebrity Website TMZ.com reported that Michael Jackson's longtime attorney, John Branca, has a will that he plans to file with California's courts. Branca did not return phone calls for comment.

The court filing by Katherine Jackson states the value of the estate as either "unknown" or "to be determined."

At the time of his death on Thursday, Jackson, 50, had assets that included a 50 percent stake in music company Sony/ATV, said to be worth between $500 million and $1 billion, and complete ownership of Mijac Music, a music publishing entity that owns copyrights to Jackson's own songs.

"When you have entertainers and musicians, they usually have quite extensive royalty contracts. It's very tough to put a value on a catalog of songs," said attorney Renee Gabbard of the law firm California-based Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker.

Jackson also was reported to also have about $500 million in debt, which would have to be paid from the estate, along with taxes.

"It is complicated, very complicated because now the estate will be distributed in accordance with the laws of the state of California, rather than a will," said entertainment attorney Jerry Reisman of New York firm, Reisman, Peirez and Reisman.