Carol Burnett is now the temporary legal guardian of her teenage grandson, Dylan, as her daughter Erin Hamilton struggles with substance abuse and addiction, Us Weekly can confirm.
According to documents filed to the Los Angeles Superior Court, obtained by Us on Tuesday, September 2, the 87-year-old actress and husband Brian Miller will act as the 14-year-old’s temporary guardians through January 8, 2021.
“The Court finds that sufficient evidence has been provided to grant the matter on calendar this date based upon the reading of the moving papers and consideration of all presented evidence,” the documents state. “Temporary guardians have the authority to change Dylan’s school and housing pending the next hearing date.”
Two weeks earlier, Burnett asked to be made her grandson’s guardian due to Hamilton, 52, being “in and out of rehabilitation centers” several times “throughout her adult life, and since Dylan’s birth.” Court documents obtained by Us in August claim that “in the past 19 years,” Hamilton was “institutionalized a total of eight times for a minimum of 30 days each time.”
“Due to addiction issues and other circumstances that my daughter Erin has been struggling with, impacting her immediate family dynamic, my husband and I have petitioned the court to be appointed legal guardian of my 14-year-old grandson,” the Carol Burnett Show alum said in a statement to Us on August 20. “Guardianship will be for oversight purposes concerning his health, education and welfare and not intended to deny him nor the parents proper visitation with one another. We look forward to recovery being the next stepping stone towards normalization and ask for privacy at this time to allow that process to occur.”
In her initial filing, Burnett said that her daughter threatened to take her own life in July. After the Los Angeles Police Department conducted a wellness check, Hamilton was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold and was treated at both Olive View-UCLA Medical Center and Chino Hills Hospital.
“Dylan’s living environment has long been unstable, unpredictable and unhealthy for a child,” the former Mad About You star claimed, noting that the teen’s father, Kurt West, had also recently checked into rehab.
Burnett shares Erin with ex-husband Joe Hamilton, who died in June 1991. The pair were married from 1963 to 1984 and also shared daughters Carrie and Jody Hamilton. In January 2002, Carrie died from complications of lung and brain cancer at age 38. Burnett and Miller, who is 23 years her junior, tied the knot in November 2001.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
