Katherine Jackson Reinstated as Guardian of Michael Jackson's Children, Claims She Was Tricked Into Going to Arizona

Posted August 2, 2012, 4:33 pm   •   by Andy Scott   •   3 comments

Jackson family matriarch Katherine Jackson has been reinstated as guardian of her late son Michael's three children, a Superior Court judge ruled Thursday.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff made the ruling after a court investigation concluded that Katherine, 82, was doing a "a wonderful job" taking care of Prince Michael, 15, Paris, 14, and Blanket, 10.

"It's clear to me that the children are well cared for by Mrs. Jackson. It is clear to me they love her very much," Beckloff said at a hearing on Thursday, according to the LA Times.

Cousin TJ -- who was granted temporary custody of Michael's children on July 25, the same day Katherine's was suspended -- will remain at his post for the time being, and will eventually share full guardianship with Katherine, the report says.

Katherine lost custody of Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket after she suddenly left her home in Calabasas, Calif., and headed to Arizona. For weeks, the exact cause of her disappearance remained unknown.

However, on Thursday, Katherine filed a sworn declaration claiming she was actually tricked into making the infamous trip, which she originally described to ABC News as a "short vacation."

According to the document, obtained Thursday by TMZ, Katherine says she was scheduled to take a road trip to see her sons perform in New Mexico on July 14, but changed her travel plans when a doctor advised her to fly there instead.

From there, she claims she was unknowingly whisked off to Arizona, where she was set up at a luxury spa, cut off from all technology and kept in the dark about the state of Michael's children for days.

"At the time, I trusted the people I was with to be honest with me," she said.

This is just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga over the Estate of Michael Jackson, which began when the late King of Pop’s siblings signed a letter asking for the immediate resignation of estate executors John Braca and John McClain.

In the letter, obtained exclusively by Celebuzz, Michael’s sisters Janet, Rebbie and brothers Tito, Randy and Jermaine Jackson claimed that Braca and McClain had faked Michael’s final will before he died of cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009.

“At the time we couldn’t possibly fathom what is so obvious to us now: that the Will, without question, it’s Fake, Flawed and Fraudulent,” states the legal letter.