Jackson Family

Conrad Murray came back to Trinidad, celebrating Carnival -- and he gave his son an official introduction into the world of BOOBIES!

Murray returned to the place where he became the man he is .... glowing in the sunlight of freedom ... and also glowing from the reflection on his head.

The man who did hard time for Michael Jackson's death brought his family along for the topless extravaganza .... and his son is clearly fully indoctrinated.

That V isn't just for victory.

Joe Jackson has a mysterious benefactor ... who just bailed him out of tax debt ... and we think we know who that person is.

Joe owed just over $70,000 in back California taxes ... way back, as in 1996.

Joe just didn't pay ... but suddenly -- 4 days ago -- the debt was cleared.

Joe doesn't have a lot of spare cash lying around these days, so who paid the dough? It's highly unlikely/out of the question that the Michael Jackson Estate anted up for Joe.

So the logical person is the one we're going with -- Katherine Jackson, who gets around $100K a month from the Estate. And even though Katherine and Joe don't live together, he has a lot of influence over her. And there's this ... his last known address is Katherine's house.

Educated guess, but we'd put money on it.

Michael Jackson was broke as a joke when he died ... so the IRS tax attack is showing a glaring ignorance ... so claim the people who run the MJ Estate.

Sources connected with the Estate tell TMZ ... they never suggested the Beatles catalog was worth ZERO -- to the contrary they agree it's worth around $1.5 BILLION.

That said ... sources say there's a reason they put a big fat zero in the Beatles column when they filed tax returns just after Michael died. They say there was a $700 million loan taken against the purchase of the catalog, bringing the net value to $800 million. Michael and Sony were 50/50 partners ... which means Michael's share was around $400 million.

Now the debt. Michael leveraged his interest to the hilt -- he borrowed $320 million against the catalog. And He owed another $200 million in personal debt ... And that's why they put ZERO.

One bone of contention -- although the Estate values the catalog at $1.5 billion, the IRS says it's DOUBLE that amount.

Estate sources say the IRS is also off base on the issue of MJ's likeness and image, which they valued at only $2,105 at the time he died. The IRS says it's worth more like $434 million.

Our sources say you have to look back at June, 2009. They say Michael made zilch on his likeness and image for the 15 YEARS before his death -- no commercials, not even T-shirts ... no one wanted to be associated with him -- at least commercially.

And finally ... as for the Jackson 5 music collection -- the Estate says it was worth $11.2 mil when Michael died ... the IRS says $45.5 mil.

So the sources say after settling up with Motown, MJ's interest was a lot less than people think. The Estate would gladly sell Michael's rights even today for $45.5 mil ... they say they'd sell it for $30 mil!

The Michael Jackson Estate is insane for trying to value MJ's Beatles collection at ZERO for tax purposes ... so says one of the most prominent Beatles experts in the world ... who also happens to be a tax attorney.

The Estate is in a dogfight with the IRS ... which claims MJs people stiffed the government on more than a half a BILLION dollars in taxes by undervaluing assets ... including MJs interest in songs by MJ and the Beatles. The Estate says the asset is worth NOTHING. The IRS says the Estate should have declared a value of $469 million.

Beatles guru and attorney Bruce Spizer tells TMZ, "No one could value that collection at zero with a straight face." Spizer, who has written 8 books about the group that changed the world 50 years ago tonight on "The Ed Sullivan Show," says the IRS may have "slightly inflated" the value of the catalog, but believes it's definitely worth minimum $300 million and could be as much as $400 million.

Spizer says, "For the Estate to list the value at zero, they lose all credibility."

Reps for the MJ Estate tell TMZ, they dispute the entire IRS analysis of MJs assets. The reps say they used nationally-recognized experts to determine value while the IRS wallows in speculation.

The Michael Jackson Estate is in the crosshairs of the IRS for allegedly cheating taxpayers out of a fortune ... and now the taxman wants the Estate to pay the piper -- to the tune of more than $700 million.

The allegations are stunning. According to legal docs -- obtained by the L.A. Times -- when Michael died the executors told the IRS his net worth was around $7 million. The IRS now says MJ's net worth was actually $1.125 BILLION!

And in a HIGHLY unusual move, the IRS claimed executors so grossly misled the agency, it doubled the tax penalty -- from 20 - 40%. So the IRS claims the Estate didn't pay $505 million worth of taxes, and when you add the 40% it comes to more than $702 Million.

As for what the agency says was under-reported:

-- The Estate valued MJ's likeness at $2,105. The IRS says the value is actually more than $434 million.
-- The Estate valued Michael's interest in a trust that owns songs by MJ and the Beatles at ZERO! The IRS says its more like $469 million.
-- There's another MJ trust the Estate claims is worth $2.2 mil. The IRS says it's worth $60.6 mil.
-- The Estate valued the Jackson 5 master recordings at $11.2 mil. The IRS says $45.5 mil.

It's pretty clear the Estate will fight this like crazy, but worst case scenario the taxes could wipe out what the Estate has made since MJ's death ... which could be devastating for Michael's kids.

We contacted a rep for the Estate who says they stand by their initial statements on the matter ... telling us, "The Estate of Michael Jackson disputes the IRS position in its entirety."

A California appeals court just formally and forever shut down Conrad Murray's contention ... Michael Jackson killed himself by self-injecting that fatal dose of Propofol.

Murray had appealed his manslaughter conviction with a kitchen sink of arguments, including MJ accidentally offing himself. The California Court of Appeal has ruled ... Murray's theories are just that -- theories. The court went on to say the evidence was plentiful ... that he did the deed.

The judges noted incredulously ... Murray's fingerprints were all over the Propofol bottle and they said he acted like a guilty man when cops showed up ... by lying to them. They also zeroed in on Murray cleaning up the scene after the fact.

Even though Murray has served his sentence ... the appeal was important. If he won he could have made a credible pitch to regain his medical license.

Lloyd's of London has dropped its claim that it doesn't have to honor a huge insurance policy on grounds it was never told Michael Jackson was a drug addict ... and we've learned Lloyd's has now agreed to a payout.

Lloyd's filed a lawsuit claiming it did NOT have to honor the policy it issued to cover losses from the failed "This Is It" tour. Lloyd's felt it had been deceived because no one ever disclosed Michael had serious drug problems.

The case just settled and we know ... Lloyd's has paid something to settle. We're told it's not the full $17.5 mil under the policy. We do not know the amount ... just that it forked over money.

The reason a payout is so important -- Lloyd's essentially folded on its fraud claim.

Katherine Jackson just got shut down by an L.A. judge ... who REJECTED her bid for a new trial in the Michael Jackson wrongful death case.

A jury shut Katherine down in October ... ruling AEG Live did not screw up in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray.

Katherine claimed jurors had been given confusing instructions ... but the judge wasn't buying what she was selling.

Katherine's recourse now is to take up her beef with the California Court of Appeal. She's already filed legal docs with the court.

Katherine Jackson has pulled the plug on her campaign to solicit money from Michael Jackson fans to pay for an MJ documentary ...TMZ has learned. The question -- Where did the money go?

TMZ broke the story last week ... Katherine -- along with Paris, Blanket and Prince -- made an online plea to Michael's fans to contribute money so she could license songs and images from the MJ Estate for a documentary she wanted to make.

We made it clear in our story ... the whole thing reeked of a scam, because the Estate was never contacted about licensing anything for Katherine's documentary and based on what we know ... there's no chance in the world the Estate would sign off on the project for any amount of money.

And here's what's really suspicious ... The website Katherine used allows her to keep the funds if the project is never made ... money contributed by MJ fans.

So almost immediately after we posted our story ... Katherine and/or her people pulled the plug on the project.

A source close to Katherine tells TMZ ... he's been told every cent of the money raised was refunded and Katherine got nothing ... but we can't confirm it.

Katherine's lawyer, Perry Sanders, tells TMZ Katherine wants to do a documentary and she "fully anticipates the executors will see the artistic honesty of this project and help make [it] successful." She shouldn't hold her breath.

Here's the deal ... Katherine Jackson is fundamentally a good woman with good intentions, but it's apparent she is often manipulated by people with bad intentions and that's what happened here.

Paris Jackson looked healthy and happy vacationing with her mom in Hawaii ... but MJ's daughter still has a long road ahead of her -- we're told the treatment will last years.

Debbie Rowe and Paris mugged for the camera during the trip ... as you know, Rowe lost contact with Paris after she divorced Michael Jackson, but the 2 reconnected a little over a year ago and are now extremely tight. Rowe speaks constantly with Paris -- who is at a boarding school in Utah.

As for Paris' treatment ... our sources say she's riddled with so many problems she's almost certainly spending several years at the facility ... where she is getting intensive counseling.

Katherine Jackson is not only WASTING HER TIME by appealing the AEG wrongful death case ... she's also making a mockery of the legal system ... so says AEG.

AEG just responded to Katherine's request for a new trial -- after Katherine argued that jurors were bamboozled because the jury instructions blocked them from being able hold AEG responsible for Conrad Murray's actions AFTER he was hired to take care of Michael Jackson.

Katherine had claimed that even if Murray was competent when AEG hired him, they should still be liable because he proved reckless and irresponsible during the months leading up to Jackson's death, and AEG did nothing to stop it.

But AEG claims Katherine is simply grasping at straws ... and her appeal is a pathetic last ditch effort from a desperate woman.

The entertainment giant also argues that the jury instructions were crystal clear and perfectly fair, taken directly from the California Civil Jury instruction guide book ... so too bad, so sad ... but that's the way the law works.

TJ Jackson -- the guardian of Michael Jackson's 3 kids -- is not in the XMAS spirit when it comes to a cousin who is trying to yank guardianship away from him ... we've learned TJ has gone to court asking a judge to blow this dude out of the water.

Anthony Jackson II filed legal docs asking a judge to appoint him guardian, but TJ says he never explains why. The petition sounds like BS, but what's interesting is TJ revealing a little bit about his role. He says both he and Katherine are doing a great job as co-guardians.

TJ says Paris, Blanket and Prince all like the way it is.

Katherine Jackson is irate that AEG is asking her to pay more than $1.2 million in costs associated with the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial ... claiming many of the so-called "expenses" are bogus.

AEG -- which won the case -- is asking the judge to sock Katherine with court costs. But according to new docs, obtained by TMZ, Katherine is blanching at a bunch of them, including:

-- $540,000 in models and blow-up court exhibits
-- $20,000 for 1,000 pages of jury instruction paper and other stuff
-- $53,000 for process servers
-- $118,000 unnecessary depositions

Katherine is even grousing about the $9 parking fees tacked on for court reporters to show up for the trial.

Michael Jackson's mom SAYS she's doing a heartfelt documentary about her son's life ... but the reality is ... it seems to be a shameful money grab.

Katherine Jackson has announced she wants to do the documentary, but needs the fans to send her money to pay for the licensing of Michael's image and music. Translation -- she's insinuating the big bad Michael Jackson Estate is being coldhearted and greedy by charging Michael's family.

Here's the reality ... Howard Weitzman, the lawyer for the Estate, tells TMZ NO ONE from the Jackson family has contacted him or anyone else from the Estate asking for permission to use MJ's image and music. Weitzman wants to make it clear ... "The Estate would never ask Michael's fans to contribute their money to finance any speculative project."

Katherine is using a website to solicit donations and is offering MJ merchandise as bait. FYI, the license for merchandising is held by Bravado, so Katherine can't do that without permission.

If Katherine makes the documentary, the people it will likely hurt are Michael's kids. That's because THEY are the ultimate beneficiaries of the Estate, and if the Estate does an MJ documentary in the future (which is almost certain), it will probably be devalued by anything Katherine does.

And it still gets worse ... Katherine and company have enlisted the help of Blanket, Paris and Prince to solicit funds from fans. It's pretty clear -- they don't understand the implications of helping her out.

So the bottom line -- if the Estate doesn't give permission to use MJ's music and image, the documentary won't get made. So what happens to the money the fans contribute? Well Katherine is using a website to solicit donations that allows her to keep all funds even if the project isn't made. So guess who ends up with the loot?

La Toya Jackson could not be clearer -- she's still a single lady, despite reports to the contrary.

Stories surfaced earlier this month ... proclaiming she got hitched to longtime BFF/business partner Jeffre Phillips.

Both La Toya and Jeffre made it clear as they left Katsuya in Hollywood ... they did NOT tie the knot. It looks like they're going the route of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn -- sometimes that works better.

Katherine Jackson has just formally asked for a new trial in the Michael Jackson wrongful death case, claiming the judge screwed up by not letting the jury consider that Conrad Murray acted like a nincompoop AFTER he was hired by AEG.

Katherine lost because the jury decided when AEG hired Murray, there was no reason to believe he was incompetent. The answer to that question ended the case. Katherine feels the judge should have allowed jurors to go further -- even if Murray seemed competent at the beginning, he proved reckless and irresponsible during the months leading up to Jackson's death, and AEG did nothing to stop it.

The documents formally asking for a new trial include statements from 4 jurors, who say they feel the verdict was wrong.

One juror says, "I feel so cheated ..." Another juror felt Katherine should have won, and complained the jury instructions made that impossible. And still another juror said, "This was a very unfair and upsetting way to end the case. There was no question in my mind that AEG Live was liable."