Jul 3, 2009 6:02 am US/Eastern
Mom Of 2 Jackson Kids Weighs Custody Fight
Guardianship Hearing Delayed At Request Of Rowe, Jackson's Mother
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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Rowe (right) is the mother of Jackson's two oldest children, son Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11
AP
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Will she go after the kids? Michael Jackson's ex-wife is said to be "deciding" whether to seek custody of the star's children.
New video released Thursday shows Jackson rehearsing for what would have been his comeback tour, just two days before his death.
Meanwhile, Debbie Rowe could be planning a bombshell.
Watching Michael Jackson command the stage in his final rehearsal at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, it's hard to believe that he would be dead just two days later.
The entertainer was not sickly or frail. The concert director said he seemed to be at the top of his game.
"He was electric, he was happy, he was invested," concert director Kenny Ortega says. "It was inspirational to be in this space."
Critics of Jackson's entourage say he was surrounded by people willing to do whatever he wished. Now, at least one ex-wife has apparently been thinking about challenging his wishes.
Attorney Eric M. George made the disclosure on a telephone conference call but declined to take questions.
"The truth is that Debbie has not reach a final decision concerning the pending custody proceedings," he said. "When Debbie does take a position in the public forum of the court, those positions will of course be conveyed to all interested persons."
Debbie Rowe's attorney confirms that she may seek custody of the two children she bore for Michael Jackson, despite his dismissal of her in life.
"As far as Michael was concerned, Debbie was a surrogate mother, and she was not to be involved in the children's lives," Jackson biographer Randy Taraborelli says.
Jackson took pains to specifically cut Rowe out of his will, which was read this week – but the children got 40 percent of his estate. He named his mother, Helen, as his first choice for guardian – and singer Diana Ross as second choice – but experts say that, in the question of custody, the star was exceeding his grasp.
"The deceased person is not the one who really gets to decide who gets custody of the children," family law attorney Martha Cohen Stine says. "It wasn't Michael Jackson's decision to make. The court is not at all bound by the will."
Earlier in the day, Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff rescheduled a guardianship hearing for July 13 at the request of attorneys for Rowe and for Katherine Jackson, the singer's mother, who has temporary guardianship of her son's three children.
Rowe is the mother of Jackson's two oldest children, son Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11. The mother of the singer's youngest child, son Prince Michael II, 7, has never been revealed.
Another hearing will proceed as planned Monday on who will take temporary control of Jackson's estate.
Jackson's memorial service will be held Tuesday at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles -- if that's what his mother wants.
Randy Phillips, chief executive for AEG Live, which owns Staples and was Jackson's promoter, said he met Thursday with Jackson's brother Randy.
Phillips was hopeful Katherine Jackson would make her decision later in the day. AEG already has been discussing logistics with city officials, he said.
A Jackson memorial would attract tens of thousands. AEG planned to issue tickets to Staples and provide a simulcast on big screens outside the arena, Phillips said.
Entry to Staples would be free, but Phillips was not sure yet how tickets would be distributed.
The discussions were held as the federal Drug Enforcement Administration joined the investigation into Jackson's death, and Jermaine Jackson said he would be "hurt" if toxicology reports showed his younger brother abused prescription drugs.
"In this business, the pressures and things that you go through, you never know what one turns to," Jermaine Jackson said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
The circumstances surrounding Jackson's death last week have become a federal issue, with the DEA asked to help police take a look at the pop star's doctors and possible drug use. Allegations have emerged that the 50-year-old entertainer had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants.
Asked if he would be shocked or surprised if Michael's drug use was proven, Jermaine Jackson said, "I would be hurt." He said he had heard about prescription drug use in the 1980s when his brother was hurt in an accident filming a commercial but did not know if drug use was a possibility more recently.
"I don't know about these things, because I hate anything with drugs," he said, adding that it hurts the family for people to say things about drug use "because we don't know."
The Los Angeles Police Department asked the DEA to help in the probe, a law enforcement official in Washington told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the investigation's sensitivity.
On the legal front, a person familiar with the details of the Michael Jackson Family Trust said it would be shared between his mother, who gets 40 percent, his three children, who get 40 percent, and charities for children, which would receive 20 percent. The charities will be determined later by the trust.
The person, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity, said there were no competing wills.
Since Jackson's death, Sony Music has been deluged with requests for record rereleases, while fans have also been clamoring for copies of "Moon Walk," Jackson's 1988 autobiography.
New copies of the out-of-print book were being offered on Amazon.com for as much as $2,100 for a signed copy.
Jackson's 7-year-old will was filed in a Los Angeles court, giving his entire estate to the trust and naming his 79-year-old mother and his three children as beneficiaries. The will also estimates the value of his estate at more than $500 million.
The will doesn't name father Joe Jackson to any position of authority in administering the estate. Also shut out is Rowe.
Jackson owned a 50 percent stake in the massive Sony-ATV Music Publishing Catalog, which includes music by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers.
CBS 2's Lou Young contributed to this report.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Last Will Of Michael Joseph Jackson
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