LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cher has filed a petition to serve as temporary custodian overseeing her son's money. She said the 47-year-old's struggles with mental health and addiction had left him unable to manage his assets and potentially put his life in danger.
The Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer and actress filed a motion Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court that would give her temporary control of the finances of Elijah Blue Allman, her son with musician Gregg Allman.
Cher's petition states that Elijah Allman is entitled to regular payments from a trust fund. But “given his ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues,” she is “concerned that any funds distributed to Elijah will immediately be spent on drugs, leaving Elijah without the assets to support himself and endangering Elijah's life,” it says in the petition.
Contacted through his attorney, Elijah Allman said in a phone call with The Associated Press: “I'm doing well, functioning and mentally and physically healthy.”
He declined to say whether he planned to oppose the petition or provide further comment.
A court-ordered conservatorship is “urgently needed,” Cher’s filing states. A judge has scheduled a hearing on the issue in January.
The filing specifically seeks to retain control of Elijah Allman's finances from his wife Marieangela King, from whom he filed for divorce in 2021.
The two remain legally married. An October filing from King said the couple had agreed to pause divorce proceedings and work on their marriage, but she had not seen him in person in six months.
Cher's petition states that the couple's “turbulent relationship was marked by a cycle of drug addiction and mental health crises” and that she believes King “does not support Elijah's recovery.”
Emails seeking comment from an attorney for King and representatives for Cher were not immediately returned.
Cher has two sons, one from each of her marriages – 54-year-old Chaz Bono with the late Sonny Bono and Elijah Allman, the former singer and guitarist for the band Deadsy, who is known professionally as P. Exeter Blue.
Conservatorships, also called guardianships in some states, allow courts to give relatives or others control of a person's money and sometimes their life decisions if they are deemed not to have the authority to make such decisions themselves.
The issue became widely known when what began as a temporary guardianship of Britney Spears turned into a years-long legal saga and dispute with her father.
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