Carol Burnett is asking to become the legal guardian of her grandson amid daughter Erin Hamilton’s substance abuse issues, she confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE Thursday. “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 iconic comedian wrote.
“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,” she continued.
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The Blast obtained court documents Wednesday filed by the 87-year-old Carol Burnett Show star asking that she and husband Brian Miller be named temporary guardians of grandson Dylan, explaining that they hoped to provide him with temporary care, maintenance and support while also managing his affairs. She explained in the paperwork that Hamilton’s substance abuse and mental health struggles have left her unable to properly care for here son.
“Throughout her adult life, and since Dylan’s birth, Erin has suffered from severe substance abuse and addiction issues,” Burnett said in the filing, according to The Blast. “In the past 19 years, Erin has been in and out of rehabilitation centers and has been institutionalized a total of eight times for a minimum of 30 days each time.” In the filing, Burnett wrote that Hamilton had attempted suicide in July. Burnett, at the time, had called the Los Angeles Police Department to complete a wellness check, and Hamilton was subsequently placed on a 51/50 hold for “suicidality and drug use.”
Dylan’s father, Kurt West, was also alleged to be unable to care for his son, as he recently checked into a rehabilitation center, Burnett said. “Dylan’s living environment has long been unstable, unpredictable and unhealthy for a child. This culminated in a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigation and juvenile dependency proceedings in 2018 and 2019,” the filing reads.
If you or someone you know are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
