Will Joe Jackson help raise Michael's kids?
How a custody win for Katherine Jackson could bring her husband closer to their grandchildren
Although Michael Jackson's relationship with his father was notoriously "complicated," said Lisa Respers France in CNN.com, Joe Jackson believes that he and his wife, Katherine, are "ideally suited to take care of and raise" their deceased son's three children—and it just might happen. Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship of the children after Michael's death, and she's seeking permanent custody. And even though she and husband Joe don't currently live together, they are still married and spend a lot of time together.
"In theory," said Marcia Clark in The Daily Beast, Joe Jackson would "have a lot of standing should his wife get custody and then pass on." But Katherine Jackson doesn't even have custody yet, and at the moment, "Michael's dad isn't even asking for custody"—so "don't hold your breath."
Debbie Rowe doesn't like the idea, said Nancy Dillon in the New York Daily News. The biological mother of two of Jackson's children—Michael Jr., 12, and Paris, 11—is reportedly "concerned about grandfather Joe Jackson's role in the children's upbringing considering Michael's stormy relationship with his dad." But Rowe is rumored to have no interest in raising the kids herself, so her opinion may not matter much.
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