A court-appointed lawyer recommended approving Jay Leno's petition to be the conservator of his wife's estate, according to a document filed last week in California Superior Court.
Mavis Leno, 77, suffers from advanced dementia and "sometimes does not know her husband, Jay, nor her date of birth," the lawyer, who spoke with her and her doctor, said in the filing Thursday. She also "has a lot of disorientation" and "will ruminate about her parents who have both passed."
The lawyer said Jay Leno, the former host of "The Tonight Show," and his wife "have a long-term, loving and supportive relationship" and that she seems happy in the home they share, adding that Leno's petition is necessary to protect both.
"The purpose of doing the substituted judgment estate planning would be to prepare an estate plan and if something happened to Mr. Leno, a petition for conservatorship of the person would promptly be filed according to the plans to be made under the estate planning to have a conservator of the person to be appointed promptly," the lawyer wrote in the court document.
The lawyer said Mavis Leno consents to her husband’s acting as conservator of her estate because he "is her protector and she trusts him," according to the document.
The couple have been together more than 43 years, and throughout that time Leno has always handled their finances, according to the petition for conservatorship filed in January. They do not have any children.
A hearing was scheduled for April 9.
Diana Dasrath is entertainment producer and senior reporter for NBC News covering all platforms.
