Britney Spears isn’t the only celebrity enduring a conservatorship battle.
LA Times recently reported that a struggle of conservatorship over “Star Trek” actress Nichelle Nichols has taken place among her loved ones. While Nichols is suffering from dementia, her only child, Kyle Johnson, manager Gilbert Bell and friend Angelique Fawcette are all fighting for the 88-year-old’s well-being.
After seeing his mother’s health take a decline, Johnson received a petition and appointed trustees over Nichols’ assets. In the documents, he cited that Nichols’ had “severe short-term memory loss impacting her executive functioning.” Johnson also accused Bell of trying to take advantage of Nichols’ funds. He said, “certain individuals have unduly exerted themselves into Ms. Nichols’ life to her detriment.”
Johnson claims he filed the lawsuit after learning that Bell was living in his mother’s guest home and received power of attorney over Nichols’ home in 2010. Bell later filed a lawsuit after Johnson was granted conservatorship, claiming that Johnson was attempting to have him removed from the guest home.
Enter Nichols’ close friend, Fawcette. While accusing Johnson of trying to take his mother’s assets, Fawcette, whom Nichols named as her successor, filed an objection in 2018 to Johnson’s petition. She claims Nichols has the mental capacity to control her own finances with little help.
In addition to that, Fawcette is claiming that Bell tried to get married to Nichols, and while caring for her left her home in “disrepair.” Nichols’ sister, Marian Nichols Smothers, created a GoFundMe page last summer to pay for legal fees. In it, she accused Bell of living in the guest home under a “fraudulent lease,” and said when she was hospitalized in 2013 Bell “took advantage of the situation to obtain her signature on medical and general Powers of Attorney.”
On the page, Smothers explained that many of Nichols’ family members live outside of Los Angeles, which is where she lived, and in 2018, Johnson moved from New Mexico to be her full-time caregiver. However, “so much of the major damage had already been done.”
Nichols’ family is currently raising $200,000 and has received a little over $148,000.
