Cher has dropped her quest for a court-ordered conservatorship over son Elijah Blue Allman after reaching a private settlement with the only child she shares with the late musician Gregg Allman, a lawyer for the superstar singer told a California judge Friday.
“I’m pleased to report that following a mediation with [two private judges], the parties have privately resolved this matter, and petitioner now wishes to end these legal proceedings,” Cher’s lawyer Gabrielle Vidal told the court. The lawyer said Cher wished to dismiss her petition without prejudice, meaning she would reserve her right to file it again if needed. It was last December that Cher first sought conservatorship control over Elijah’s finaces, claiming it was “urgently needed” to protect him. In court filings, she said her son was “currently unable to manage his assets due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues.”
Asked by the court Friday if he was in agreement with Vidal’s statement that the matter had been settled, Allman’s lawyer, Steven K. Brumer, answered, “Most definitely.”
“I don’t have the documents, but I can accept your representation on behalf of your client that she seeks to withdraw the petition. I will deny the petition without prejudice,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jessica Uzcategui said. “Congratulations to all of you, and take care.”
After the ruling, Allman’s law firm, Cage & Miles, issued a statement: “This outcome allows the parties to focus on healing and rebuilding their family bond, a process that began during mediation and continues today.”
Neither Cher nor Allman appeared during the quick hearing held in a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. It was back in May that they agreed to “pause” their public court battle and try to resolve their dispute behind closed doors.
At an initial hearing in the case last January, Cher’s legal team asked for an emergency ruling granting control over Allman’s finances ahead of an expected distribution from his father’s estate. It was denied on the basis that Allman deserved more time to review and respond to his mother’s claims. Cher appeared by video at a follow-up hearing three weeks later but was again denied conservatorship powers pending a larger hearing.
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Allman, 48, attended both hearings in person and objected to his mom’s petition. At a third hearing in March, Cher was granted a delay to gather medical records. Her lawyers said she was willing to pay for private mediation in the meantime if Allman would agree to participate. “Cher would very much would like the opportunity to make sure she’s taken every possible step to try to resolve this informally,” Vidal told the court.
Cher’s lawyers said she genuinely feared for her son’s safety because his battle with addiction was compounded by a mental health diagnosis that “leads to periods of psychosis.” Vidal said Allman had been placed on involuntary hospital holds multiple times, including in September 2023. The lawyer said Cher was terrified that her son’s “life is at risk,” and that he was too vulnerable to safely manage the estimated $120,000 he receives each year as his inheritance.
“The concern is that if he gets this distribution into his hands, and during a period of stress, that that will lead to the drug use. This proceeding was filed because Cher was told unequivocally by the doctors treating him, that if she did not take this step as his mother, the concern was that he would once again end up on the street,” Vidal previously told the court.
“I don’t question the motivation behind Cher’s request as having been driven by concern for her son,” Judge Jessica Uzcategui said in January. “And I understand the perhaps overlapping issues with respect to substance abuse and mental health that have affected the proposed conservatee in the past. I don’t think he questions that either. I see a lot of acknowledgment of that in some of the paperwork,” the judge said. But concerns are not “sufficient evidence,” she said as she denied Cher’s emergency requests but did not dismiss the underlying petition.
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In court filings, Allman admitted his struggle with addiction but said he tested negative for drugs and alcohol in a series of voluntary tests in January. He told the court he had rented a new residence and was in the process of hiring a business manager. “In the two weeks since the initial hearing, I have been successfully managing my income and expenses and have refrained from the use of illicit substances that have historically caused the incidents that have given rise to my mother’s concern,” Allman previously wrote. “I am doing well and do not need the help that my mother is offering.”
Throughout the case, Cher and her lawyers said she only wished to protect her son. “Petitioner has worked tirelessly to get Elijah into treatment and get him the help he needs,” her initial filing said. “Petitioner loves Elijah immensely and has always acted with his best interests in mind.”
