By City News Service
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| Photo: Getty Images |
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The same woman who until recently served as Britney Spears' temporary personal conservator was appointed today as the permanent personal guardian of comedian Carol Burnett's teenage grandson, whose mother allegedly has a history of drug abuse.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deborah L. Christian had previously named Jodi Pais Montgomery as the temporary guardian for 15-year-old Dylan
Hamilton-West on Nov. 10, when Montgomery took over for Burnett, 88, and her spouse, Brian Miller, who had served in that role since Sept. 1, 2020. During Friday's hearing, the judge noted there was no opposition to naming Montgomery to the position on a permanent basis.
``Dylan is very much in agreement... and happy with the current arrangements,'' the judge said.
In their original petition filed in August 2020, Burnett and Miller stated that throughout her adult life, and since Dylan's birth, Burnett's daughter, Erin Hamilton, has suffered from severe substance abuse and addiction issues and that in the past two decades, she has been in and out of rehabilitation centers while being institutionalized a total of eight times for a minimum of 30 days each time.
Dylan's court-appointed lawyer, Stefanie Bennett, stated in a report to the judge filed Tuesday that Montgomery was suited for the role or permanent guardian. Montgomery made a virtual appearance during the hearing along with Miller and the boy's father, Tony West, but Burnett and Dylan did not participate.
``I spoke with Dylan and I asked him to go to school,'' Bennett told the judge in explaining that her client had waived his appearance.
Bennett wrote in her report that during her representation of Dylan, she spoke with the teen along with Burnett and Miller; the couple's lawyer, Gabrielle Vidal; the boy's parents; and Montgomery, getting the input of all and concluding that naming Montgomery as Dylan's permanent personal guardian was in his best interests.
``Dylan is of the age and maturity to understand the role of his guardian,'' Bennett stated in the report. ``Dylan is in agreement with Jodi assuming the role of his guardian.''
The judge approved Bennett's recommendations for monitored visits by Dylan with his mother and brother and that all of the monitors be approved by Montgomery. The costs of the monitors are to be born by the sibling or mother.
Bennett told the judge that ``visitation'' should apply to all contact Dylan has with his mother and brother, including communications such as the telephone and the social media, because the teen recently viewed comments that were upsetting to him.
Dylan has liberal visitation with his father.
Montgomery became a part of Spears' conservatorship team in September 2019 after having previously served as her care manager. The Spears conservatorship was ended by Judge Brenda Penny in November.
Hamilton, a 53-year-old singer, is one of Burnett's three daughters from her marriage to television producer Joe Hamilton. Their oldest daughter, Carrie, died of cancer in 2002.
In July 2020, Hamilton sent Dylan and her adult son multiple text messages threatening suicide, according to the original petition, which says she was subsequently placed by the Los Angeles Police Department on a hold for ``suicidality and drug use'' before being released late that same month.
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