Michael Jackson’s mother is stripped of role as administrator of estate

Already bearing the stress of her son’s funeral tomorrow, Michael Jackson’s mom, Katherine, has now lost her chance to take charge of his life.

Mrs. Jackson, 79, was given limited stewardship of her son’s $500-million estate, but now a will has been found the Judge in the case, Mitchell L. Beckloff, today replaced her with John Branca, a lawyer, and music executive John McClain — both of whom are named in the disputed 2002 will.

Her lawyers asked the Judge to let Mrs. Jackson be a co-executor and work with the pair, “It’s too soon to turn over unfettered financial discretion,” said Burt Levitch, one of Mrs. Jackson’s lawyers. But Judge Beckloff denied the request and set a new hearing for August 3rd, at which time a permanent administrator should be named.

If their new appointment is confirmed the two men would have full control of the late singer’s money, including selling his assets, managing his companies, and selling, leasing or even mortgaging Michael’s numerous homes. And these guys know their stuff – Mr. Branca is the lawyer who helped Michael buy half the rights to the Beatles’ back catalog, worth around $500-million alone.

Today’s hearing was supposed to focus on who would get custody of the singer’s three children, but after surrogate mom and former wife, Debbie Rowe told an LA news station she now wants custody, that topic was shelved until July 13th.

Her lawyer, Eric George, has since said his client has not decided if she’ll proceed with the case.

And tomorrow’s events may not help her decide — More than 1.6-million people registered to be among the 17,500-strong crowd who will pay their respects at LA’s Staples Center. Those picked to receive tickets were sent racing to Dodger Stadium to collect their award, and eBay has already been forced to ban all such sales.