Cher is seeking to place her 47-year-old son Elijah Blue Allman into a conservatorship, claiming in court documents that he's allegedly suffering from "severe mental health and substance abuse issues," and unable to manage his finances.
According to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by NBC News, the Oscar-winning actress and singer states that Allman receives regular payouts from a trust set up by his late father, legendary musician Gregg Allman. However, Cher is concerned he will immediately spend those distributions on drugs, "leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself, and putting Elijah’s life at risk," the documents state.
Cher argues that Allman is “substantially unable to manage his financial resources" and needs to be overseen by a conservator in order to "protect Elijah’s property from loss or injury."
The "Believe" singer also states that she has "worked tirelessly to get Elijah into treatment and get him the help he needs."
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The petition argues the 77-year-old is best suited to be the sole conservator, and includes signed affidavits from other family members supporting the request. It specifically seeks to keep control of Allman’s finances from his estranged wife Marieangela King, with Cher writing in the petition that "their tumultuous relationship has been marked by a cycle of drug addiction and mental health crises."
Cher alleges that King has been a destructive presence in Allman's life and is impeding efforts to have him get the help he needs with drugs, including recently trying to check him out of a treatment center where he was receiving much needed medical care. She concludes that if King were to be appointed conservator, Allman's estate would suffer "the immediate loss or dissipation of Elijah’s assets for self-destructive purposes," according to the documents.
Cher and an attorney for Allman did respond to NBC's requests for comment. However, in a phone call with The Associated Press, he said, "I am well, and able, and of sound mind and body." He declined to say whether he planned to oppose the petition, or give any further comment.
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Allman and King were married in December 2013. Allman reportedly filed for divorce in 2021.
King previously accused Cher of hiring men to kidnap Allman in a forced intervention, claiming in a 2022 divorce filing that she was unable to contact her estranged husband and had been told by "one of the four men who took him that they were hired by his mother."
In an interview with People Magazine in October, Cher denied the claim and said her son's years-long struggles with substance abuse is a "problem that millions of people in the United States" are also suffering from.
Cher and Gregg Allman married in 1975, three days after she was divorced from her husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono. Their marriage was tumultuous from the start; Cher requested a divorce just nine days after their Las Vegas wedding, although she dismissed the suit a month later.
Together they released a widely panned duets album under the name “Allman and Woman.” They had one child together and Cher filed for legal separation in 1977. Allman said in an interview with Viva magazine in 1977 that he regretted marrying Cher and said that they probably could have fallen in love if it hadn’t been for his drug abuse. Gregg Allman died in May 2017.
A hearing for a temporary order is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2024.
How conservatorships work
When a person is considered to have a severely diminished mental capacity, a court can step in and grant someone the power to make financial decisions and major life choices for them.
California law says a conservatorship, called a guardianship in some states, is justified for a “person who is unable to provide properly for his or her personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter," or for someone who is “substantially unable to manage his or her own financial resources or resist fraud or undue influence."
The conservator, as the appointee put in charge is called, may be a family member, a close friend or a court-appointed professional.
The issue became widely known when what began as a temporary conservatorship over Britney Spears became a years-long legal saga and fight with her father.
