Los Angeles: Michael Jackson's 7-year-old will was filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles court, giving his entire estate to a family trust while making his mother the guardian of his children and cutting out his former wife Debbie Rowe.
Court documents estimated the current value of his estate at more than $500 million.
Also Wednesday, a Jackson family spokesman says a public memorial for Michael Jackson is in the works, but it won't be held at the late pop star's Neverland Ranch.
No further details are provided in the statement issued Wednesday by family spokesman Ken Sunshine.
The public relations firm Sunshine, Sachs & Associates has been retained by the family and says it will announce those plans shortly.
The will names Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, as a beneficiary of the trust and the guardian of Jackson's children, who are also named as beneficiaries of the trust.
It also names entertainer Diana Ross as a successor guardian for the children and their estates if something happens to Katherine Jackson.
Ross introduced the Jackson 5 on the Ed Sullivan Show in the late 1960s and was instrumental in launching their career. She was a lifelong friend of Michael Jackson.
Jackson's longtime lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend, are named in the will as co-executors.
In a statement, Branca and McClain said: "The most important element of Michael's will is his unwavering desire that his mother, Katherine, become the legal guardian for his three children. As we work to carry out Michael's instructions to safeguard both the future of his children as well as the remarkable legacy he left us as an artist we ask that all matters involving his estate be handled with the dignity and the respect that Michael and his family deserve."
The executors moved quickly to take control of all of Michael Jackson's property, going to court Wednesday to challenge a previous ruling by the judge that gave Katherine Jackson control of 2,000 items from Neverland.
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