Cher has filed for a conservatorship over her youngest son Elijah Blue Allman’s estate.
According to legal documents, the music icon, 77, has requested to be the sole conservator of her 47-year-old son’s estate over concerns that he cannot properly take care of himself or “manage his own financial resources” due to his alleged struggles with drug abuse.
In the papers, first obtained by The Blast, Cher claimed she has not been able to “discuss Elijah’s preferences concerning the appointment of a temporary conservator” because his “current mental and physical health issues” leave him “unable to form or express a preference” concerning the appointment of a conservator for his estate.
The documents go on to detail Cher’s concern her son cannot handle his finances, claiming in the papers “any funds distributed to Elijah will immediately be spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself, and putting Elijah’s life at risk.”
Cher noted in the filing Elijah makes $120,000 (about R2.2-million) a year and is “entitled to regular distributions from a trust established by his father for his benefit”.
The singer is also mom to Chaz Bono, 54, who she had with her first husband, late musician Sonny Bono, while Elijah’s dad was the late musician Gregg Allman.
Cher also noted in her court documents Elijah has an estimated $0 value in personal property, and a court date regarding the conservatorship is set for March 6, 2024.
Her filing comes three months after a report Cher hired a group of men to “kidnap” Elijah from a New York City hotel room in 2022 to get him help for his drug addiction.
Cher denied the “kidnapping”, which was said to have taken place while Elijah was at a hotel trying to save his marriage to his estranged wife Marieangela King, 36, who he married in 2013.
Elijah told the Daily Mail in 2014 he struggled with drug abuse and at one point was on painkillers, smoking heroin and heavily drinking.
Cher said about his struggles in an interview with People: “I’m a mother. This is my job – one way or another, to try to help my children,” she noted.
“You do anything for your children. Whenever you can help them, you just do it because that’s what being a mother is.
“But it’s joy, even with heartache,” she continued.
“Mostly, when you think of your children, you just smile and you love them, and you try to be there for them.”