Read Michael Jackson's mother's court petition

By Matthew Belloni

Michael Jackson's mother Katherine filed court documents today in an attempt to safegaurd her late son's assets, including Jackson's stake in the lucrative Sony-ATV music publishing catalog (which includes Beatles songs).

Here's the petition, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by attorney Burt Levitch at Rosenfeld Meyer & Susman.

Katherine Jackson, who has already won temporary custody of Michael's three children, is asking that a special administrator be immediately appointed to oversee the late singer's trust because certain bank accounts are controlled by unspecified third parties who might mishandle funds.

The court papers also ask that the administrator be given control over "certain tangible physical property currently in the physical possession of a third party," and that at least one person is improperly claiming to have a power of attorney to act on Jackson's behalf (power of attorney ends at death).

The court papers also say the family hasn't been able to locate a will. That contradicts a TMZ report claiming that former Jackson attorney John Branca of the Ziffren Brittenham firm (who was apparently re-hired by Jackson only weeks ago, according to the website) is in possession of a will. But if so, the family hasn't seen it.

Katherine Jackson says because Michael died without a wife or adult children, the family is now empowered to take control of the estate.