Michael Jackson Agreed to Help Cover Father's Living Expenses

Michael Jackson paid his mother Katherine an extra $16,000-a-month to help support his father Joe Jackson in the years leading up to his death, according to new legal documents. The King of Pop's financial records have come under scrutiny after Joe filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the singer's embattled physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, following allegations the medic administered a fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol.

He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and is awaiting a preliminary hearing in January 2011 to determine if he will face trial. But the Jackson patriarch is seeking unspecified damages from Murray, and new papers recently filed in a Los Angeles court suggest Michael agreed to the increased payment to his mum to help cover Joe's living expenses.

A sworn statement submitted by Michael's alleged former manager, Leonard Rowe, claims Katherine acted as the late star's agent and handed over cash to Joe, according to TMZ. Other court documents, including a declaration from Joe's lawyer Brian Oxman, stated the "Thriller" hitmaker was paying Katherine 50,000 pound sterling in the early 2000s, but later upped the amount to $66,000, to take care of the family patriarch too.