Cher has officially opposed her daughter-in-law's bid to be appointed conservator for her son, Elijah Blue Allman, in court filings. The conservatorship battle is unfolding as Allman, 50, remains in custody at the New Hampshire State Hospital, a psychiatric facility, following legal and mental health issues stemming from arrests earlier this year.
Marieangela King-Allman, 39, requested conservatorship of Allman on August 18. Cher, 80, pushed back in an August 28 filing, asserting that her family believes King-Allman is seeking money and fame. The New Hampshire State Hospital had previously sought to establish guardianship for Allman on July 7, suggesting his half-brothers, Chaz Bono and Devon Allman, assume responsibility.
Cher's legal filing stated that the New Hampshire State Hospital and the rest of the family are opposed to King-Allman serving as guardian, citing several factors. These include the couple's previously pending divorce and King-Allman's alleged refusal to assist Allman and his caretaker, Kayti Pease, during his struggles prior to his arrest.
A conservatorship hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles was postponed by Superior Court Judge Jessica A. Uzcategui until December 1, as neither Allman nor his legal representative were present. Cher contends in her filing that King-Allman was in the process of divorcing Allman and had been estranged from him when she initiated the conservatorship proceedings. Cher also stated that King-Allman never assisted her spouse despite repeated requests from Pease.
Cher believes King-Allman views the conservator role as a financial opportunity to control Allman's income and has attempted to leverage his incarceration to re-enter his life. According to Cher's filing, Allman declined to see King-Allman on three occasions during her visits to him in New Hampshire. Cher characterized King-Allman's alleged indifference to his health and living situation over the past year as disqualifying her from serving as a court-appointed fiduciary.
Allman and King-Allman, who married in 2013, have had a tumultuous legal history. King-Allman filed for divorce in 2021, which was dismissed in February 2024. She filed a subsequent divorce petition in April 2025, citing irreconcilable differences, but this filing was also dismissed in June.
King-Allman has claimed she was not properly served with information regarding the conservatorship, asserting that New Hampshire is the appropriate jurisdiction for the matter. She believes Cher's pursuit of conservatorship creates a jurisdictional conflict with the New Hampshire court. King-Allman also suggested that Allman's recovery could be jeopardized if Cher, with whom he has been estranged for years, were to select his conservator.
Court documents filed in May on Allman's behalf indicated that Cher had not provided him with financial support since August 2021. Allman has been open about his past struggles with substance abuse, telling Entertainment Tonight in 2014 that he began using drugs around age 11 and later progressed to heroin and opiates. He described periods of his life where he felt he was at the "edge of mortality" and acknowledged the danger of addiction.