娱乐英语新闻:Rowe not to give up parental rights to Jackson's children: attorney

LOS ANGELES, July 14 (Xinhua) -- An attorney for Deborah Rowe, who bore two of pop star Michael Jackson's children, denied a published report on Tuesday that his client has agreed to give up any parental rights to the children in exchange for 4 million U.S. dollars.

The New York Post earlier quoted an unnamed "disgusted Jackson confidant" as saying that Rowe would give up parental rights to the children and was in line for "one final payday."

    The source told the paper that the Jackson family isn't happy about the mega-payout but they consider it a necessary evil.

    "They felt it was like a ransom-type thing," as Rowe "jumped back into the picture because she wanted money," according to The New York Post's source.

File photo taken on November 14, 1996 shows Michael Jackson and Deborah Rowe in California, U.S

    In response, Rowe's attorney wrote in an e-mail that the report was "completely false."

    Rowe, who bore a boy and a girl for Jackson who died last month, has forfeited her parental rights in the past.

    After the birth of son Prince Michael, now 12, and daughter Paris, 11, she agreed to allow Jackson to raise them in exchange for a lump sum of 8 million dollars, plus 900,000 annually for five years.

    When Jackson was accused in 2001 of child molestation involving a child who was not his, Rowe resurfaced to reclaim her rights but wound up giving her ex-husband full custody of the kids in exchange for another 4 million dollars plus a 900,000-dollar home, according to the paper.

    This time around, she is forfeiting her restored parental rights to Jackson's mother, 79-year-old Katherine, in exchange for yet another roughly 4 million dollars, the paper quoted the family source as saying.

    A court has given Katherine Jackson custody of Jackson's three children. Another hearing on the issue is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles next Monday.

    Meanwhile, attorneys for the executors of Jackson's estate filed updated court papers Monday claiming that Katherine Jackson was still angling to have some control over the handling of her son's assets.

    The attorneys contended in the court papers that the singer's mother was essentially trying to act as a third trustee of the estate, despite a judge's ruling last week appointing entertainment attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain executors of Michael Jackson's estate, as Jackson requested in a 2002 will.

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff issued an order Monday re-confirming Branca and McClain as the estate's executors, authorizing them to take control of the singer's assets and hire attorneys and money managers to handle issues related to the estate.

    Beckloff ruled last week that while Branca and McClain will be handling the estate, they should keep Katherine Jackson informed and be open to her input. But Branca and McClain have the final say over issues relating to the estate.