A Sad Day for Music Fans Around the World.
81 Year Old Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys is suffering from dementia and needs a conservatorship to care for him.
It’s a sad day for music as today as Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys has declined so much mentally that a judge found him to be better off in a conservatorship.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 along with his bandmates, including his brothers Carl and Dennis and his cousin Mike Love.
Wilson, the legendary singer and songwriter is now 81 years old and unfortunately suffers from dementia which has only gotten worse since his late wife’s passing.
Today a judge in California ruled that Wilson should be in a court conservatorship to manage his personal and medical decisions due to his dementia.
At the hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gus T. May approved the petition filed by Wilson’s family and inner circle after the death of his long time caretaker and beloved wife, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, in January.
The judge stated:
“I find from clear and convincing evidence that a conservatorship of the person is necessary.”
Evidence and family testimony shows that Wilson is still able to consent to the arrangement and lacks the future capacity to make medical decisions.
May appointed two longtime Wilson representatives, publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeAnn Hard, as his conservators. There were no objections raised to this arrangement.
Two of Wilson’s seven children, Carnie and Wendy Wilson, notably from the successful singing group Wilson Phillips, asked through their attorney that all the children be added to a group text chain about their father, and that all be consulted on medical decisions. Of course, the judge granted the stipulations and no one objected.
Although, the two daughters had asked for a delay in the process on their April 20th hearing while issues were worked out, but it was clear at the hearing today that they had all agreed on arrangements.
A doctor’s declaration filed with the petition in February said Wilson is taking medication for dementia, and has a:
“major neurocognitive disorder, is unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.”
Sievers and Hard have had a close relationship with Wilson and his wife for decades. 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 his long-time friends.
Cipriano wrote in a report that he visited Wilson at his “impeccably well maintained residence in Beverly Hills,” where he lives with two of his daughters and a long-term live-in caregiver.
Wilson is able to move around with help from a walker, however, he needs his caregiver to push him in a wheelchair for longer durations of movement. Cipriano stated that Wilson has a good sense of who he is, where he is, and when it is, but could not name his children beyond the two that live with him.
Cipriano stated that Wilson was:
“mostly difficult to understand and gave very short responses to questions and comments.”
Cipriano said he approved of the conservatorship because of Wilson’s general consent and understanding that he was declining.
Wilson has credited his late wife with stabilizing his famously troubled life after they met in the mid-1980s and they married in 1995.
Wilson, his seven children, his caregiver, and his doctors consulted before the petition was files, according to a family statement at the time. It said the decision was 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."
While many cases of conservatorships have been highlighted in the past for being negative examples, such as the one for Brittney Spears, Wilson is an example of the more traditional case of conservatorships. Wilson is declining mentally and still has the ability to understand that he is ailing, however, he won’t be able to understand that for very long, so this is a traditional type of conservatorship which is more often than not installed for an older person in irreversible mental decline.
The Wilson petition did not seek a conservator of his estate because his assets are managed responsibly by his trust with Hard as one of his trustees.
Brian Wilson is a deeply revered and acclaimed producer, arranger, songwriter, and innovator of vocal harmonies. The majority of his work being in the legendary band which he co-founded, the Beach Boys. However, after years of substance abuse and mental health issues that upended his career in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wilson was incredibly fortunate to have been saved by his late wife and family. He lived a remarkable life and I as a fan am happy to see that everyone around him loves him and wants the best for him and that they could all agree to supporting him in his old age.