Jay Leno filed for conservatorship for 'protection' of wife's estate due to her dementia diagnosis: expert

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Jay Leno's conservatorship petition for wife Mavis Leno appears to be a precautionary measure for his wife of 43 years.

The former late-night host filed a petition to be appointed conservator of Mavis' estate in January, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital. 

In the petition, Leno wrote Mavis "lacks the necessary capacity to execute the estate plan" due to her "major neurocognitive disorders (including dementia)."

Celebrity attorney Christopher C. Melcher, partner at Walzer Melcher & Yoda, exclusively told Fox News Digital Leno's petition is designed to help protect his wife in the event Jay can't be there himself.

JAY LENO FILES FOR CONSERVATORSHIP OVER WIFE MAVIS' ESTATE FOLLOWING HER DEMENTIA DIAGNOSIS

Jay Leno stepped out with wife Mavis in Hollywood shortly after he filed for a conservatorship to protect her assets. (BACKGRID)

"Jay and Mavis have a living trust in a will, but that was created before she got dementia, and what Jay is concerned about is that he might die before she does, and somebody is going to need to take control of these things," Melcher said. 

"So, he's just trying to do that planning now, and he needs a court order to rearrange their affairs because she has dementia and doesn't have capacity to agree to anything right now."

In Leno's petition, he described his "loving marriage for more than 43 years" with his wife, 77, but noted that he "has always handled the couple's finances" and he wanted to ensure that "Mavis has managed assets sufficient to provide for her care should Jay predecease Mavis."

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"The conservatorship estate will not be funded with any assets and is being established for the sole purpose of filing a petition for substituted judgment to ensure Mavis’s estate plan is established and that Mavis’s future care is provided for under the terms of a living trust," documents stated.

Jay and Mavis were spotted Sunday outside a comedy club in Los Angeles. (BACKGRID)

Jay Leno filed for a conservatorship to protect his wife's estate in the event something happened to him. (BACKGRID)

In the petition, Leno, 73, indicated Mavis is "able but unwilling to attend the hearing," and "does not wish to contest the establishment of a conservatorship." In addition, she "does not object to the proposed conservator and does not prefer that another person act as a conservator."

Melcher explained that conservatorships are designed to protect individuals and their assets, regardless of their mental health or physical abilities to attend an in-person court appearance.

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"California law requires that the person be brought to court so the judge can assess, with their own eyes and their own questioning, whether this person really needs to be placed under a conservatorship," Melcher said. "Now, of course, there's an exception if somebody is too ill to go to court and just can't be there. But, generally speaking, we want the person brought to court so that we make sure that they really need this level of protection." 

A licensed physician declared Mavis "suffers from dementia, a major neurocognitive disorder." 

Jay and Mavis have been married 43 years after first meeting at the Comedy Store in the '70s. (NBC)

"Unfortunately, Mavis has been progressively losing capacity and orientation to space and time for several years. Jay is fully capable of continuing his support for Mavis’s physical and financial needs as he has throughout their marriage," the petition said. "Jay desires to execute an estate plan, including a revocable trust and will, which will provide for Mavis and Mavis’s brother and her sole living heir aside from Jay."

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Melcher added, "The next step is the judge will review this petition, determine whether a conservatorship is needed, and, if so, give Jay the power to go ahead and make changes to their estate plan so that her brother (Rikki Nicholson) can be provided for in the event of her death, and then also that somebody could manage the estate when Jay dies."

Mavis first met Jay at the Comedy Store in the 1970s, and the rest is history. The couple married in 1980 and have no children.

In November 2022, Leno suffered third-degree burns to his face and hands in addition to scarring on his chest when flames erupted while he was working underneath one of his vehicles at his Burbank garage.

Jay Leno revealed his burns from a garage fire in November 2022 as he leaves the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills. (Grossman Burn Center)

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Leno had at least two surgeries during his 10-day stay at the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills, one of which was a "surgical excision and grafting procedure." He also required the use of a hyperbaric chamber to help provide better blood flow and decrease bacteria.