Due to what his physician describes as a “major cognitive problem,” a judge ruled on Thursday that Beach Boys leader and music legend Brian Wilson should be in a court conservatorship to handle his personal and medical decisions.
After his wife Melinda Ledbetter Wilson passed away in January, his estate and internal group received approval for the 81-year-old’s plea at a reading led by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gus T. May, who was in charge of the majority of his interests.
At the small reading, May said,” I find that a custody of the individual is necessary. Wilson requests to the design and lacks the capacity to make decisions regarding health care, according to the judge’s argument.
May appointed two longstanding Wilson staff, writer Jean Sievers and director LeeAnn Hard, as his custodians.
No major complaints were raised.
The Beach Boys ‘” The Beach Boys” singer/file/Singer Brian Wilson poses for a painting in the year 1961. ( Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images )
Carnie and Wendy Wilson, two of Wilson’s seven kids, from the singing team Wilson Phillips, requested that all of their father’s children be included in a group text chain and that they consult them regarding medical decisions. The prosecutor granted the requirements.
At a hearing on April 30th, it was evident that there had been a discussion at the hearing. The two daughters had requested that the process be delayed while issues were being resolved.
A doctor’s declaration filed with the complaint in February said Wilson has a “major cognitive problem”, is taking medicine for memory, and “is able to properly provide for his own individual needs for physical health, food, clothes, or house”.
Wilson and his wife have been in a friendly relationship for many years, according to Sievers and Hard. In a report, Robert Frank Cipriano, an attorney appointed by the court to represent Wilson’s interests, said Wilson acknowledged the need for the conservatorship, and said he trusts the judgement of the two women.
According to Cipriano’s report to the court, Cipriano visited Wilson at his “impeccably well maintained residence in Beverly Hills,” where he lives with two daughters and a long-term live-in caregiver.
File/Clockwise from left, the Beach Boys are Al Jardine, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson circa 1962. ( Getty )
Wilson, according to Cipriano, can move around with the aid of a walker and the caregiver, and is aware of where and when he is physically present. However, he was unable to name his children besides the two who reside with him.
He claimed Wilson “mostly difficult to understand and only responded to questions and comments in brief.”
Cipriano said he approved of the conservatorship, mostly because of Wilson’s general consent.
After meeting in the middle of the 1980s and getting married in 1995, Wilson credited Ledbetter with stabilizing their famously troubled life.
Wilson, his seven children, his caregiver, and his doctors consulted before the petition was filed, according to a family statement at the time. The decision was made to ensure” there will be no extreme changes” and that” Brian will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on current projects,” it said.
Judges in California can appoint a conservator for a person, their finances — referred to as the estate — or both, as was the case with , Britney Spears. Spears ‘ case brought attention — much of it negative — to conservatorships, known in some states as guardianships, and prompted legislative changes. Wilson’s case is closer to the typical traditional use of a conservatorship, which very often is installed for an older person in irreversible mental decline.
File/Rock and roll band” The Beach Boys” album cover for their record” Surfin’ Safari” which was released on August 11, 1962. ( L- R) Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, David Marks. ( Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images )
Because Hard serves as a trustee and his assets are in a trust, the Wilson petition did not request an estate conservator.
Wilson struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues that ended his career in the 1960s and earned acclaim as co-founder, producer, arranger, and chief songwriter of the Beach Boys.
Along with his bandmates Carl and Dennis, his brothers Carl and Mike Love, and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
