Carol Burnett Seeking Guardianship of 14-Year-Old Grandson
Being a grandparent is a wonderful time when you get to enjoy all the fun of children without as much of the work.
Grandparents have done their time with their own kids, and grandkids offer an opportunity for them to spoil.
But unfortunately, that order is not always followed.
In many grandparents’ lives, for various reasons, it becomes necessary for them to take on the parental role as well.
Carol Burnett, 87, is now making the move to seek guardianship of her teenage grandson Dylan after seeing his mother Erin Hamilton struggle with addiction for years.
“Due to addiction issues and other circumstances that my daughter, Erin, has been struggling with impacting her immediate family dynamic, my husband and I have petitioned the court to be appointed legal guardian of my 14-year-old grandson,” Burnett said in a statement to People.
“Guardianship will be for oversight purposes concerning his health, education and welfare and not intended to deny him nor the parents proper visitation with one another.
“We look forward to recovery being the next stepping stone towards normalization and ask for privacy at this time to allow that process to occur.”
In 2018, Burnett became her grandson’s “educational rights holder,” which allowed her to “make educational and developmental-services decisions,” Burnett and her husband, Brian Miller, say in a court filing, according to CNN.
With that squared away, Burnett sent her grandson to boarding school, which gave him “the stability and structure that he previously lacked and … reinforced appropriate behavior and boundaries that he desperately needed,” the legal document says.
According to the court filing, Hamilton has had substance abuse issues for years, and even threatened to commit suicide last month.
“Throughout her adult life, and since Dylan’s birth, Erin has suffered from severe substance abuse and addiction issues,” the court filing reads, according to People.
“In the past 19 years, Erin has been in and out of rehabilitation centers and has been institutionalized a total of eight times for a minimum of 30 days each time.”
“Dylan’s living environment has long been unstable, unpredictable and unhealthy for a child,” it adds. “This culminated in a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigation and juvenile dependency proceedings in 2018 and 2019.”
Burnett is also asking that her husband be granted guardianship as well.
The court filing explains that “[a]lthough Brian is not Dylan’s biological grandfather, he has known Dylan for Dylan’s entire life and loves him like his grandson.”
The boy’s father is reportedly in rehab, also unable to care for his son.
With Carol and Brian already supporting their grandson emotionally and financially, they hope to be named official temporary co-guardians soon.
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