The word came just a day after the family said in court documents it believed the entertainer had died without a valid will and moved to take control over his estate.

The will was created in July 2002 and named as executors Jackson's long-time lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and family friend, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the topic.

The Jackson family and its lawyers are reviewing the document, the person said.

That designation complicates a petition by Jackson's mother, Katherine, to become the administrator of his lucrative, but debt-encumbered estate.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff has already granted 79-year-old Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of his three children, who range in age from seven to 12.

He also gave her control over some of her son's personal property that is now in the hands of an unnamed third party. But the judge did not immediately rule on her requests to take charge of the children's and Jackson's estates.