Jay Leno Given Conservatorship for Wife With Dementia
By Movieguide® Contributor
A Los Angeles court made Jay Leno conservator over his wife of 43 years on Tuesday.
His wife, Mavis Leno, “lacks the necessary capacity to execute the estate plan” due to “major neurocognitive disorders (including dementia),” documents obtained by Fox News Digital said.
Mavis received her dementia diagnosis earlier this year.
Movieguide® reported on April 3:
An update on her health in a document filed by Ronald Ostin, the court-appointed counsel on the case, shared that she “has a lot of disorientation, will ruminate about her parents who have both passed and her mother who died about 20 years ago.” The documents also shared that “it was clear she had cognitive impairment, she still has a charming personality and could communicate.”
The file also indicates that Mavis “does not contest” the conservatorship and does not want anyone but Leno to fill this role.
PEOPLE shared that “The report also speaks to the nature of the couple’s relationship, which Ostrin described as ‘long-term, loving and supportive, as Mavis sees Jay as ‘her protector and she trusts him.’”
Attorney Christopher C. Melcher told Fox that the conservatorship is intended to protect Mavis if Jay can’t.
“Jay and Mavis have a living trust in a will, but that was created before she got dementia, and what Jay is concerned about is that he might die before she does, and somebody is going to need to take control of these things,” Melcher said.
“So, he’s just trying to do that planning now, and he needs a court order to rearrange their affairs because she has dementia and doesn’t have capacity to agree to anything right now,” he continued.
Leno’s petition mentions their “loving” union of 43 years and that he takes care of their finances but wants to ensure that funds will be managed for care in case he passes before she does.
“I think she’s in the least restrictive environment. I think she’s in very good care with Mr. Leno,” the court’s judge said, per PEOPLE.
He told Leno, “Everything you’re doing is right. I totally understand this is a difficult period.”
Before Mavis met Jay, she never thought she’d get married.
“But with Jay, I began to realize that this was the first time I was ever with someone where I had a perfect, calm sense of having arrived at my destination,” she said.
The pair met in 1976 at the Comedy Store, a comedy club in LA. They married four years later.
“I always tell guys when they meet a woman, ‘Marry your conscience. Marry someone who’s the person you wish you could be, and it works out okay,” Jay said.
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