Vivian Manning-Schaffel: A Beverly Hills lawyer shares his take on Michael Jackson's sizable will.

When someone as formidable as Michael Jackson passes away, there is much ado during the filing of his will. As questions mount concerning the details, we spoke with Todd Reinstein, Of Counsel at the Beverly Hills business law firm Ervin Cohen & Jessup, to get his expert take on the burning issues.

Custody

Jackson named his mother, Katherine, his three children, and an as-yet-unnamed charity as the primary beneficiaries of his estate, with Katherine designated as primary guardian, and Diana Ross as her backup. But all this might go awry if the mother of the two oldest kids, the disinherited Debbie Rowe, decides to go for custody.

"What he asked in his will is his preference -- it does not control any of the courts," says Reinstein. "Clearly, she (Debbie Rowe) would have standing in a family law court to seek custody. Normally, the mother's rights are superior to the grandmother's rights. Whether the family court would give it to her or not is a fact of circumstances. Whoever has custody of the children will be very well provided for, because we're talking about a very large estate here."

The Money

TMZ reports that Katherine was made the estate's temporary administrator until the end of the week, but the executors named in the will want to make sure they have control over the assets, and have asked the judge to nullify Katherine's power to move assets around.

"The way I read the document, the co-executors are also the co-trustees of the trust, and will run Michael Jackson's empire for the benefit of his three children, his mother, and a named charity," says Reinstein. "The family will be informed about the sale of assets and so forth, but they won't have the authority to make the decisions."

Reinstein also expects we'll likely hear about how this all plays out for years to come. Of course, for the sake of Jackson's children and family, a peaceful and fair resolution to these matters would be preferred.

Vivian Manning-Schaffel has written for Babble, Parenting, The Advocate, The New York Post, Business Week and a variety of other publications and lives and works in the heart of breeder Brooklyn with her husband and two kids. She authors two pop culture blogs: The Mad Mom and A Hag Supreme, and is on the web at vivianmanningschaffel.com.