Talk show legend Jay Leno (73) is seeking guardianship for his wife Mavis (77), who is said to be suffering from dementia. The moderator is said to have filed a corresponding application with a court in Los Angeles on Friday.
The 77-year-old “currently lacks the necessary capacity,” USA Today quotes from the documents. A hearing is therefore planned for April 9th. It continues: “Unfortunately, Mavis has been increasingly losing capacity and orientation in relation to space and time for several years.” Her doctor explained that she suffered from “dementia, a severe neurocognitive disorder.”
Jay Leno, who became one of the most famous talk show hosts in the USA with his “The Tonight Show”, has also repeatedly suffered from health problems in recent years. In November 2022, he suffered severe burns to his hands, face and chest when a fire broke out while working on one of his classic cars. He then underwent two procedures. Just a few months later, in January 2023, he was injured in a motorcycle accident. Jay Leno broke several bones.
Now he has to worry about his wife. In order to take care of financial matters, he wants to become her asset manager. The court documents say he wanted to manage Mavis’ half of their joint property and her own assets in a trust that would provide for her, her brother and Jay Leno. The couple has no children and she has no other siblings.
The moderator “has always taken care of the couple’s finances throughout their 43-year marriage and will continue to do so until his death,” the petition says. It continues: “Jay is fully capable of continuing his support of Mavis’ physical and financial needs, as he has done throughout their marriage.”
The couple met in the 1970s and married in 1980. In an interview, the talk show host once revealed that the secret to a functioning relationship was humor. You have to be able to “fool around” together. He also said, “I always tell men when they meet a woman, ‘Marry your conscience. Marry someone who is the person you want to be and it will work out.'”
