If Jackson's estate is somehow able to avoid selling the catalog, it could generate significant cash flow. Based on an industry estimate that a catalog can generate between 5 percent and 7 percent of its value in cash each year--Jackson's stake could generate $52.5 million a year in cash (assuming his estate's 50 percent stake is worth $750 million). Meanwhile, Jackson will no longer incur $20 million to $30 million in annual living expenses.

Jackson's estate has other assets -- such as Neverland which could be worth $80 million and is encumbered by a $23 million loan and Jackson's own music catalog, called Mijac, which is estimated to be worth $50 million to $100 million, with an unknown amount of debt attached.

But it is virtually certain that lawyers will be feasting on Jackson's estate since it is unclear whether it has one or two wills. And there will probably be some significant court battles by Barclays and Bank of America as they seek to get their share of the Sony/ATV catalog.

Let's hope that Prince Michael II, aka Blanket -- the child Jackson dangled off a Berlin hotel balcony in November 2002 -- and his siblings will be better taken care of than the lawyers and bankers fighting over Jackson's estate.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College. His eighth book is You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.