Paris Jackson, the only daughter of Michael Jackson, is back at the centre of a public conversation about her father’s fortune. The 28-year-old singer, model and actress filed a court petition on 29 October 2026 asking a judge to order $600 million from the Michael Jackson estate into the family trust set up for her and her brothers, and the filing has put her name back into search results on both sides of the Atlantic. The legal fight has also revived interest in the most personal part of her story: the afternoon, aged 15, when she finally met her mother, Debbie Rowe, for the first time.
Jackson is the middle child and only daughter of the late King of Pop. She was 11 when her father died in 2009, and she has spent the years since building a career in modelling, acting and music while remaining closely tied to the Jackson family name. Her petition argues that the family trust remains unfunded more than 17 years after her father’s death, a claim the estate firmly rejects.
Paris Jackson — Quick Reference Profile
| Detail | Paris Jackson |
|---|---|
| Full name | Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson |
| Date of birth | 3 April 1998 (age 28) |
| Birthplace | Beverly Hills, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Primary roles | Model, actress, singer-songwriter |
| Famous anchor | Michael Jackson (father); Debbie Rowe (mother) |
| Family | Brothers Prince Jackson (born 1997) and Bigi Jackson (born 2002); grandmother Katherine Jackson |
| Net worth | Not publicly verified |
| Social handles | Instagram @parisjackson |
Born Into the Brightest Spotlight in Pop
Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born on 3 April 1998 at the Spaulding Pain Medical Clinic in Beverly Hills, California. She was named after the French capital, the city in which she was conceived, and her name also came from a promise her father, her aunt La Toya and Kathy Hilton had made as teenagers that if they had a daughter, they would call her Paris.
She is the second of Michael Jackson’s three children and the younger child of his marriage to Debbie Rowe, a former dermatology assistant he married in 1996. After the couple divorced, Jackson received full custody of Paris and her older brother Prince, and he raised the children largely by himself at Neverland Ranch. During childhood, Paris and her siblings often wore masks on public outings with their father to shield them from the press. Her godparents were Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin.
Everything changed on 25 June 2009, when Michael Jackson died at the age of 50. Paris was 11. She and her brothers were taken into the care of their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, and their cousin Tito Joe Jackson. At her father’s televised memorial on 7 July 2009, the 11-year-old closed the service with a short, tearful tribute, telling the audience her father had been “the best father you could ever imagine” and that she loved him so much.
The Afternoon She Finally Met Her Mother at 15
For the first decade of her life, Paris knew her mother only by name. She has said she first asked about Debbie Rowe when she was about 10 or 11, was told her name, and let the subject drop for a few years. The two did not connect until Paris was about 15, in 2013, when Rowe was visiting her grandmother Katherine Jackson’s home.
“I remember coming downstairs and she was in the living room with my grandma,” Paris recalled on the Call Her Daddy podcast in August 2026. “I came in. I was just like, ‘Hey, Mom,’ and she was like, ‘Hi.’ I sat down. We talked for a second. Then we went out for the day and just hung out.” She said the two grew closer towards the end of her teens, and described Rowe as similar to herself: “She’s a [Sagittarius], so she’s got the fire, and I’m an Aries, so I got the fire. We’re very similar.”
Rowe, now 67, married Michael Jackson in 1996 after meeting him while working as an assistant at his dermatologist’s office. She gave birth to Prince in February 1997 and to Paris in April 1998. The pair had begun reconciling in 2013 after years of estrangement, and their bond deepened when Rowe was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and Paris publicly supported her. Paris has shared photographs with her mother on social media in 2026, including pictures of the two smiling together in February and May. People reported the full account of the first meeting after the podcast episode was released.
Modelling, Acting and a Second Album on Her Own Terms
Paris began stepping out of her father’s shadow as a teenager. She appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in January 2017, signed a modelling contract with IMG Models in March 2017, and made her acting debut the same month with a guest role on the Fox series Star. Her feature film debut followed in Gringo in 2018, and she later appeared in the third season of VH1’s Scream, in American Horror Stories as Maya in 2021, and in the film The Space Between the same year.
Music has become her most personal outlet. She formed the folk duo The Soundflowers with musician Gabriel Glenn, signed a deal with Republic Records in 2020, and released her debut album Wilted on 13 November 2020. A second album, Happiest Day of My Life, followed on 21 August 2026. She has also kept a fashion presence, walking the runway at Paris Fashion Week in September 2024 for Maison Yoshiki Paris. Like Joe Freeman, Martin Freeman’s son, she has had to build a career while audiences constantly measure her against a famous parent.
Her personal life has been lived largely in public. She was engaged to music producer Justin Long from 2024 until July 2025. In January 2026 she marked six years of sobriety from drugs and alcohol, a milestone she has spoken about openly after difficult teenage years that included time at a therapeutic boarding school in Utah.
A $600 Million Court Fight Over Her Father’s Fortune
The reason Paris Jackson’s name is trending again in November 2026 is a courtroom, not a stage. On 29 October 2026 she filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court asking a judge to order a partial distribution of $600 million from her father’s estate to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, the trust established to provide for her and her brothers Prince, 29, and Bigi, 24.
Her filing argues that the trust remains unfunded more than 17 years after her father’s death, even though the estate has generated billions of dollars. It cites about $850 million in estate cash and equivalents at the end of 2024, and argues roughly $600 million could be transferred after accounting for liabilities. Under the trust’s terms, the siblings were to begin receiving income at 21, with distributions of principal at 30, 35 and 40. Prince turns 30 in February 2027, while Paris turns 30 in April 2028.
The estate has pushed back hard. A spokesperson called the claim that the executor withheld or reduced payments “a complete fabrication”, said more than $200 million has already been distributed to or for the benefit of the siblings, and said the trust cannot be fully funded until legal hurdles are removed, including an Internal Revenue Service dispute in which the IRS sought about $700 million in taxes and penalties. The estate says a ruling significantly reduced that amount but the matter remains unsettled.
The dispute has already produced courtroom movement on both sides. In July 2025 Paris formally objected to the estate’s request for legal fees, raising concerns about irregular payments. In a ruling made public in May 2026, a judge ordered $625,000 in insufficiently justified bonuses paid to outside estate attorneys to be returned. Then on 4 November 2026, Judge Brenda J. Penny granted estate executor John Branca’s requests to seal limited portions of court filings containing confidential information about attorney fees and estate accounting. Both motions were unopposed, and the orders do not indicate that Paris opposed them or that the judge ruled directly against her. A hearing on her petition is scheduled for early December 2026. USA Today reported the details of the filing from court documents obtained on 3 November.
Family Ties That Still Shape Her
For all the courtroom argument, Paris Jackson’s public life still turns on family. She attended the 75th Tony Awards in June 2022 with her brother Prince to support MJ the Musical, the stage show about their father, and the two introduced a performance from it. She is an ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, a cause tied to her godmother, and for the Heal Los Angeles Foundation.
Her story sits beside a wider pattern of famous families in which the next generation builds a separate public identity. Anna Lewandowska, who has built a wellness career beside footballer husband Robert Lewandowski, shows the same push towards an independent profile. For Paris, that independence now runs through music, modelling and a court petition that asks a judge to decide what her father’s legacy is actually worth to his children.
Paris Jackson: Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Paris Jackson?
Paris Jackson is 28. She was born on 3 April 1998 in Beverly Hills, California, and turns 30 in April 2028.
Who is Paris Jackson’s mother?
Her mother is Debbie Rowe, a former dermatology assistant who married Michael Jackson in 1996. Paris did not meet her mother until she was 15, in 2013, and the two have grown close since.
Why has Paris Jackson asked a court to order $600 million from her father’s estate?
Her petition, filed on 29 October 2026, asks a judge to order a partial distribution of $600 million to the Michael Jackson Family Trust. She argues the trust remains unfunded 17 years after her father’s death, while the estate says more than $200 million has already been distributed and an unresolved IRS dispute prevents full funding. A hearing is scheduled for early December 2026.
What is Paris Jackson’s net worth?
Not publicly verified. No reliable source publishes a confirmed figure for her personal net worth, and published estimates vary widely, so no number is stated here.
Is Paris Jackson still engaged to Justin Long?
No. She was engaged to music producer Justin Long from 2024 until the engagement ended in July 2025.
What is the myth about Paris Jackson growing up with her mother?
It is often assumed she was raised by both parents. In fact she was raised solely by her father, who received full custody after his divorce from Debbie Rowe, and she met her mother for the first time at 15. Another common misunderstanding is that the $600 million petition is a demand for money for herself; the filing asks for the money to be transferred to the family trust that benefits all three siblings.
