Update!

Katherine Jackson Too Thorough for Her Own Good?

Executors of Michael Jackson's estate object to his mom's "voluminous, burdensome" discovery requests

By Natalie Finn Jul 29, 2009 12:30 PMTags
Katherine Jackson, Michael JacksonHECTOR MATA/AFP/Getty Images

UPDATE: An attorney for Katherine Jackson has defended the information-seeking mother's hefty demands, saying she is simply looking out for the best interests of her Michael and his children, denying reports she is seeking "to rewrite her son's will."

"Her concerns are and remain the welfare of her son's surviving children, the preservation of his legacy and the protection of his estate," L. Londell McMillan said in a statement. "Mrs. Jackson continues to serve as her son's most trusted and loyal advocate even in death."

He went on to explain her reasons for the filing:

"In an effort to gain more facts concerning a suspicious circle of relationships, unnotarized will and an undisclosed trust, both drafted in 2002, which grant the executors and trustees thereunder very broad powers, Mrs. Jackson has sought formal discovery of the temporary administrators of her son's estate."

McMillan said he's confident the court will agree to her requests come Monday's hearing.

________

Discovery is one thing. Fifteen discovery demands that measure "several inches high" are another.

Attorneys for the two men whom Michael Jackson appointed executors of his estate are objecting to his mother's request for, according to them, "all documents, letters, photographs, notebooks, DVDs, CDs, reports, voice recordings, calendars, drawings, diaries, summaries, storyboards, journals, files, business records, emails, notes, schedules," etc. in special administrator John Branca's possession that concern her son.

Our patience is exhausted just writing all that, so you can imagine how they feel.

Katherine Jackson's attorney, L. Londell McMillan, has filed papers requesting July 31 interviews with Branca and coexecutor John McCLain and petitioning a judge for access to numerous documents, including Jackson's contract dealings with Sony/ATV Music Publishing and AEG Live, legal files and insurance records.

All of their requests were filed to speed up the process of obtaining "important personal, business and legal information and documents relating to Michael Jackson," McMillan said.

"The special administrators have, up to this point, refused all requests," Tuesday's filing states, accusing them of being "intent on keeping [Katherine] in the dark as much and for as long as possible."

Branca and McClain's camp, however, would call Katherine's demands a bit...excessive.

She "has served voluminous, burdensome and evasive discovery demands...on the Special Administrators" and she wants it all in court by Aug. 3, their attorney, Howard Weitzman, wrote in documents obtained by E! News.

A hearing on estate and custody issues has long been scheduled for Monday, and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff will not be considering any of these discovery requests until then.

Beckloff will also examine Branca and McClain's petition for an undisclosed amount of money from the estate to give to Katherine and Jackson's three kids, who have primarily been staying with their grandmother since their dad died.

McMillan has said that Katherine does not plan on challenging the content of the King of Pop's will, per se—though they did file a motion seeking the court's guidance on whether objecting to the choice of executors would constitute a challenge.

—Additional reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum

(Originally published on July 28, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. PT)

________

The legal road ahead may be rocky, but once upon a time, Katherine Jackson gave Michael Jackson: A Life.