Jay Leno files for conservatorship of wife’s estate after her dementia diagnosis

LOS ANGELES — Late-night television talk show legend Jay Leno has filed for conservatorship over his wife because she is suffering from dementia.

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According to court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Leno, 73, filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The petition requests that Leno be made the conservator for 77-year-old Mavis Leno so he can structure her living trust and other estate plans.

Documents state that Jay Leno “wishes to create a trust to hold each of his and Mavis’ one-half interest in their community property, in order to ensure Mavis has managed assets sufficient to provide for her care” in case he dies before her.

A hearing is scheduled for April 9, USA Today reported.

“Unfortunately, Mavis has been progressively losing capacity and orientation to space and time for several years,” the filing states, according to the newspaper.

Mavis Leno “suffers from dementia, major neurocognitive disorder,” her physician wrote in a doctor’s capacity declaration.

It is unclear when Mavis Leno, who has been married to the late-night host for 43 years, was diagnosed with dementia, Entertainment Tonight reported.

Jay Leno, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Lenos, who live in Beverly Hills, California, do not have children, the newspaper reported.

“Jay Leno has always handled the couple’s finances through the term of their 43-year marriage, and will continue to do so until his passing,” the petition stated.

The estate plan will also provide for Mavis Leno’s brother, who is “her sole living heir aside from Jay,” according to CBS News.

The couple met at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store in 1976, the Times reported.

“I always had this idea that I would never get married,” Mavis Leno told People magazine in a 1987 interview. “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.”

In an interview with People in 2019, Jay Leno said “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 OK.’”

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