6/28/2009

Michael Jackson's Death - What About the Life Insurance Policies?

There's more and more chatter online and off regarding Michael Jackson and his surprising and untimely death. Talk about his huge amount of debt, talk about what's been done to protect the children's inheritance, talk about his drug use, and talk about the leeches that hung around him.

I've read about the London tour involving 50 gigs, when Michael Jackson was originally told there would be only 10. I've read about his nixing an offer to be paid over $2 million to entertain at the party of some Russian rich guy.

But, as a lawyer, here's what I know and I'm not hearing a thing on this issue: life insurance policies exist outside the Estate of Michael Jackson; they are contracts that pay directly to the beneficiary of the policy.

Why aren't we hearing about life insurance policies in all this talk?

I find it very, very curious that we're not hearing anything about these policies and I'm betting that there are several out there. I'm betting SONY had one on him. I'm betting the London promoters had one. I'm HOPING there is one or more in place for his children.

If MJ was too frail or ill to perform in London, then it's scary to think that life insurance might have made him more valuable dead than alive.

And, I'm also wondering that if the nasty rumors are true, that MJ was so ill and so frail that he could not have performed in London, then what impact those life insurance policies have upon a motive in his death. If there are significant policies out there, MJ may have been worth more death than alive and someone should be investigating this concern.

Complications: suicide (and there's been talk of that) would exempt the payout by the life insurance carrier -- unless enough time had passed since the policies had been created (for example, a policy may pay provide benefits on a suicide if the policy has been in effect for over 2 years at the time of death). And, if the insurance carrier found that the beneficiary contributed the death, then they would not pay out benefits.

Where are the insurance carriers' teams of investigators?

So, why aren't we hearing about this life insurance policies? And, why aren't we hearing about the investigators for the insurance companies being involved in the current investigation? Are they being that subtle, or are there no policies?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard that the tour had a hard time finding insurers for the concert. While he did have the health exam, they had to convince Lloyd's of London to insure only the London concerts, nothing outside that. Reading what is said to be the autopsy is scary - peach fuzz only on his head (wigs all the time), 112 pounds, scars from 13 plastic surgeries and needle marks, broken ribs and bruises. Who knows if he even had a will let alone personal life insurance policies but it has turned out that he is worth a lot more know, before he's even in the ground.

This is just my humble opinion, coming from another disgruntled attorney.

Donna Thain said...

Is it a crime to fake your death if no insurance policies are paid?

Unknown said...

Hi Donna,
Thanks for writing!

Not being a criminal lawyer, I'm not sure what state or federal laws are involved in faking one's death, but I'm sure that falsifying records would be a crime, as well as any attempt to fake one's death in order to defraud creditors.

I'm wondering -- are you thinking that MJ faked his own death? Because with all the autopsy evidence (like Tazebell describes in the above comment), and the possible criminal trial - with all those investigators, witnesses, etc., you'd be the first hypothesis that Michael Jackson faked his death that I've come across.

Any scoop on that?

Thx
Reba

Donna Thain said...

No scoops here. But I am surprise that no one else has posed the question. We can start with the unforgivably long time frame from his death to when the ambulance actually came to take him to the hospital. I'd also like to use the autopsy description as a discrepancy rather than a confirmation.
I questioned some doctor friends of mine about the likelihood of turning down a proposition by a celebrity such as Michael Jackson. I was surprised because without hesitation their response was, "Not Likely".
If you look at the persona of this man, this perfectionist it easier for me to believe that this is more similar to one of his performances with every detail of music, dance, lighting, staging thought out with no detail missed. To think that he didn't live his life the same way he perfected his performances seems unrealistic. Even tazebell says,"Reading what is said to be the autopsy..." Foul play may seem likely but if you are crafting the perfect fake death it might just be a case of "slight of hand."
And now no insurance policies, I really can t
understand why more people haven't jumped to this obvious conclusion.