Will the decision stick?
For now it looks like Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, will be the children’s guardian and caretaker. But will Debbie Rowe continue to challenge the decision?
This, however, is a ruling Debbie Rowe and other people may challenge in the future. The two older children, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, were born when Rowe was still married to their father, making her their legal mother. Rower reportedly signed away her parental rights to the children after the divorce, but an appeals court reestablished her parental status in 2006. California attorney Gloria Allred commented, “Katherine would have to show it would be detrimental to the kids for Rowe to have custody. That’s a very heavy burden.” (source)
It seems that even though Jackson most likely has his wishes stated in his will (which will be filed in California courts later this week), those wishes would still only be used as a suggestion and not be legally binding. Not legally binding? Why on earth do we even have wills? We can only hope that whatever happens, it is truly what’s best for the children.