Elijah Blue Allman, Cher’s son with the late Allman Brothers singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, is pushing back on his mom’s claims he’s “gravely disabled” and can’t be trusted with money amid alleged substance abuse and mental health issues.
The 49-year-old guitarist for the rock band Deadsy plans to oppose Cher’s renewed bid for a conservatorship over his finances, his lawyers tell Rolling Stone. Cher filed her revived petition for conservatorship over Allman’s finances last week, with a judge set to consider the matter at a Friday morning hearing.
“Elijah is disappointed, but not surprised, by this latest attempt to gain control over his finances,” his lawyer Avi Levy says. “We have spoken with Elijah several times this week, and he remains in good spirits despite the circumstances. Elijah does oppose the latest petition.”
Levy said his co-counsel, Steven Brumer, would appear at the Friday hearing in Los Angeles on Allman’s behalf. The lawyers, with Cage and Miles LLP, notified the court on Thursday that they were re-entering the case after representing Allman during Cher’s prior conservatorship bid, which drew early skepticism from a judge and ended in a private settlement in 2024.
In her follow-up request for court supervision over Allman’s trust payments, Cher called his situation dire after two back-to-back arrests in New Hampshire landed him in what Cher described as a locked psychiatric facility.
“Elijah’s situation has become dire on multiple fronts. His mental health has severely deteriorated, his financial situation is terrible, and his drug dependency is at its worst,” her new petition filed April 15 in probate court and obtained by Rolling Stone alleges.
When Cher first sought conservatorship control in December 2023, Allman appeared in court to oppose the effort, saying he had stopped using drugs and would hire a business manager. Cher now claims he did not follow through.
Since 2024, she claims, Allman has been “living wildly beyond his means,” bouncing between “expensive hotels he cannot afford” and short-term rental homes, allegedly causing more than $50,000 in damage to one Airbnb, and purportedly racking up an $18,000 bill with a drug dealer. He also has an unpaid tax bill topping $200,000, Cher claims, and is facing a raft of criminal charges.
According to a bail order obtained by Rolling Stone, Allman was arrested on Feb. 27 at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, on suspicion of trespassing, criminal threats, and simple assault. Local outlet WMUR 9 News reported that Allman allegedly slipped onto campus claiming he was a prospective parent, turned belligerent, and poked a student with his cane. Allman was booked and released, then arrested again two days later on a burglary rap in Windham, New Hampshire, after a woman called police saying someone had broken into her home, and she was “hiding in a closet,” according to a police affidavit obtained by Rolling Stone. Officers arrived to find a shattered glass door and Allman “seated on the living room couch smoking a cigarette,” the report says.
“Since the proposed conservatee is currently in custody in a psychiatric hospital in New Hampshire, this application does not seek a conservatorship of the person. However, the facts underlying this petition are not only relevant to establish the proposed conservatee’s total inability to manage his finances, but the facts also establish that he is gravely disabled,” Cher’s conservatorship request states. It adds that a more thorough conservatorship over Allman’s personal life likely would be “appropriate for him once he returns to California.”
Cher’s documents say Elijah receives $120,000 a year via a trust set up by his dad. Once Elijah gets a payment, it’s “immediately squandered without regard for his liabilities or well-being,” Cher’s court filings say.
“There is a clear pattern in Elijah’s behavior,” Cher alleged in the documents filed by her lawyer. “After he receives his trust distribution, he checks into a hotel, usually the Chateau Marmont, buys and does drugs until he runs out of money, ends up in the hospital, or overdoses. Based on this pattern, if Elijah were to receive his trust distribution, he will use it to buy drugs.”
The conservatorship filings detail other instances where Allman allegedly was a danger to himself or others, including an episode where he purportedly passed out in his car in the middle of traffic and ended up in a hospital, where he was administered Narcan. “There have been multiple occasions in which Elijah caused grease fires while cooking after zoning out and forgetting that food was on the stove,” the filing states.
Allman’s brother, Devon Allman, submitted a declaration in support of the new conservatorship request. “It is my opinion that he is currently a danger to himself and unable to manage his life, and any funds that would become available to him,” he wrote. “My recent visit to check in on him brought me unfortunate and profound sadness that took weeks of my life to process. His condition, both physical and mental, was appalling and delusional, respectively.”
Devon said he previously was compelled to “negotiate with a heroin dealer for a five-figure sum of drug debts” because his brother was unable to pay. “That was very difficult to navigate. I felt compelled to help for his safety, though,” he wrote. “I strongly urge that Elijah be kept away from money until he has demonstrated a commitment to invest in his long-term physical and mental health.”
When Cher initially filed for a conservatorship back in 2023, she asked to be named her son’s financial conservator. This time, she’s asking the court to appoint Jason Rubin, a licensed private fiduciary. She’s asking the court to grant Rubin the power to receive her son’s trust distributions and use them to pay Allman’s expenses at his discretion.
Swiftiephylus amator and Swiftiephylus taylorae, two of the bugs named after Taylor Swift because of their blonde and red coloring. Courtesy of Brad Balukjian, Ph.D.