Cher withdraws application for guardianship of her son

US pop star Cher has given up her request for legal control over her son's personal and financial affairs, according to his lawyers.

The singer applied for guardianship last December, citing 48-year-old Elijah Blue Allman's alleged drug abuse and mental health problems as reasons.

The law firm representing him, Cage & Miles, told the BBC that the outcome allows the parties to focus on healing and rebuilding their family ties, a process that began during mediation and continues to this day.

Cher's lawyers said during a brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday that family members had agreed to a private settlement, US media reports.

The BBC has asked Cher's lawyer for comment.

The dismissal came after the “If I Could Turn Back Time” singer and her son agreed in May to pause their court battle to try to resolve the matter privately, US media reported at the time.

When she first filed for guardianship, Cher argued that Mr. Allman was “essentially unable to manage his financial resources.”

Guardianship is usually granted by a court for people who are unable to make their own decisions, such as people with dementia or other mental illnesses.

It can be used to manage a person's financial or medical affairs.

Before the end of 2023, Mr. Allman was to receive assets from a trust set up by his late father, musician Gregg Allman, from which he was entitled to receive regular payments.

Cher, 78, had filed two immediate applications for temporary guardianship, both of which were denied, while a request for longer-term guardianship had not yet been decided.

In court documents, Cher's lawyers said the singer was “concerned that any funds paid to Elijah would immediately be spent on drugs, leaving Elijah without the means to support himself and putting Elijah's life in danger.”

The filing states that she “worked tirelessly to get Elijah into treatment and get him the help he needs.”

Her son, meanwhile, said he has become sober and is in regular treatment after a struggle with addiction and previous poor financial decisions.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica Uzcategui denied the requests for temporary guardianship, saying Mr. Allman had proven he had “managed his finances” and “remained drug-free.”

The judge said at the time that the star's desire for a conservatorship was born out of concern, but that her legal team was basing its request on hypothetical assumptions and “fears.”

Cher last year denied her son's wife's claim that the pop star hired four men to kidnap him from a New York hotel room.