Paris Jackson Scores Major Legal Win as Attorneys Forced to ‘Return’ $625K in Bonus Payments to Michael Jackson Estate

Paris Jackson scored a major legal win against Michael Jackson’s estate amid an ongoing battle over the late star’s finances.

In court documents obtained by PEOPLE on Wednesday, May 13, a Los Angeles judge ruled that $625,000 in bonus payments that were paid by executors John Branca and John McClain to third-party law firms will need to be “returned” to the estate.

Ms. Jackson’s objection to the $625,000 of bonus payments made in the second six months of 2018 is sustained. The bonus payments are not approved; they are disallowed. The payments shall be returned to the estate,” the motion reads.

According to the ruling, Paris, 28, is entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs.

“Ms. Jackson may bring a motion for her reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs under the common fund theory for her meritorious objection to the executors’ fee petition,” the court order reads.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE on May 13, attorneys for Jackson’s estate said that while they “disagree with the decision, we fully respect it and plan to move forward accordingly.”

We are gratified that the Court itself recognized and praised the work of the executors and its outside counsel in today’s decision,” adding that the executors “created real and substantial generational wealth for the estate’s beneficiaries,”

The statement continued: “While the Court has previously approved several other bonuses to outside counsel over the years for their extraordinary services, and this was the first time they were the subject of objections, the executors have always understood that legal fees are subject to court approval and have always required outside counsel to agree to return any funds to the estate if the payments were not approved. And, to be clear, none of the $625,000 in bonuses – which represent only a small fraction of the Estate’s expenses for the period in question – were paid to the executors, and the court did not in any way say that the executors had made any inappropriate payments to themselves.”

A spokesperson for Paris told PEOPLE in a statement on May 13 that she “has always been focused on what’s best for her family and this ruling is a massive win for them.”

After years of delay, the Jackson family will finally get the transparency and accountability measures Paris has fought for,” the statement continued. “The Jackson estate is supposed to be a prudent, fiscally responsible entity that supports the Jackson family – not a slush fund to help John Branca live out his Hollywood mogul fantasies. After months of engaging in sexist, scorched-earth tactics against a beneficiary, it’s time for John Branca to acknowledge his many missteps and act in the best interest of the family he has a fiduciary duty to protect.”

Jackson’s estate attorneys declined to comment further.

Along with her brothers Prince, 29, and Bigi, 24, Paris is the beneficiary of the estate. She has accused Branca and McClain of abusing their roles as estate executors for their own financial gains, which they have denied.

Last month, Paris filed a legal document accusing Branca and McClain of using their latest status report to “mock and belittle” her, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

The April 6 filing was a response to an 83-page status report filed earlier in the month by the executors, which discussed a March 24 court hearing in which Paris’ legal team allegedly backed out at the last minute from an agreement reached by all parties.

The actress and musician had requested the executors have a schedule to submit the estate’s annual accounting information. Per the filing, Paris requested “an efficient, transparent, and orderly process,” and accused the executors of “operat[ing] in the dark.”

Paris claimed in the filing that the executors used the media to “attack” her, which she deemed “unacceptable,” and pointed specifically to a comment allegedly made by their attorney Jonathan Steinsapir that she was “strutting” into a March 11 court hearing.

At the time, Steinsapir claimed to PEOPLE in a statement responding to the filing that Paris and her attorneys “are once again abusing the courts and the legal system by making a series of false allegations as part of a media campaign to distract from their legal setbacks and the inherent weakness of their case.”

He continued, “The vast majority of her ‘claims’ have been either approved by her legal team or by the court in prior years’ accounting, but those facts have been routinely ignored by her attorneys. Others are based on false or misleading information. To be clear, the estate and its executors have never given a single gift to anyone for any reason.”

Steinsapir noted that Paris has received $65 million in benefits and will “inherit many hundreds of millions more.”

In the filing, Paris said she “hoped to work cooperatively to install a clear and simple order allowing payment on account where justified,” but faced hurdles from the executors’ team.

At the time of his death in 2009, Jackson was over $500 million in debt, and the executors claim they have taken the struggling estate and turned it into a “powerhouse and a force in the music business.”

In court filings, Paris has alleged that in 2021 alone, the executors pocketed more than $10 million in compensation from the “Thriller” hitmaker’s estate, allegedly “more than double the amount distributed to any beneficiary from the family allowance.”

The executors’ attorneys told a judge that they were owed $115,000 in costs and attorneys’ fees in January.