Tristan Thompson is officially taking over as caregiver for his younger brother.
via: Daily Mail
Tristan was awarded temporary legal guardianship of Amari in September 2023, eight months after their mother Andrea’s shock death of a heart attack aged just 53.
Now, a court has signed off on making it permanent, according to a ruling on Monday, TMZ reports.
Amari has been confined to a wheelchair by Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a particularly acute type of epilepsy that has rendered him in need of constant care.
Thompson, 32, filed a petition earlier this month to become Amari’s sole legal guardian and conservator – and said he had been unable to locate his and Amari’s father, Trevor Thompson, per documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight.
Trevor was ordered to pay child support when Andrea assumed sole legal guardianship of Amari in 2014.
The documents read: ‘Since then, Trevor Douglas Thompson has effectively abandoned the proposed ward; he failed to pay any child support despite the court order and has not been in contact with the proposed ward or Andrea Marie Brooks since July 2014.
‘He has done nothing to support or raise the proposed ward since then and has relinquished all rights to have any say in the proposed ward’s care.’
‘I have not had any contact with him since his separation from our late mother in 2014, and contact was minimal prior to that date.
‘My only contact with Trevor Thompson in the past nine years was a brief interaction when he appeared at my mother’s funeral. I have no knowledge of his current or recent whereabouts.
Tristan says he hired legal experts to try and locate his father ‘but they were unable to obtain any information about Trevor’s current location or other relevant details.’
Tristan is now seeking to become his brother’s legal guardian in order to ‘manage his finances and healthcare’.
Amari is a Canadian citizen, but has been living and receiving medical care in California. Both Tristan and Amari moved in with Kardashian following Andrea’s death.
Tristan further states in documents: ‘If Amari is required to return to Canada there are no relatives there that have the ability or means to support Amari, and he cannot be provided the level of care and support he is receiving in the United States while in my custody.
‘[I want] to ensure that Amari continues to have a happy and fulfilling life and to provide him with the best care possible.’
In September Tristan said in court docs that ‘he has been providing care, maintenance, and support to Amari’ in the trying nine months since their mother’s death, The Blast reported.
On September 20, a judge granted Tristan’s petition for temporary guardianship and scheduled a hearing on permanent guardianship for November, according to an article by TMZ.
Thompson was not present in court for the hearing, but was represented by his attorney via Zoom. (The basketball player last month resigned with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team he has spent the majority of his career playing for.)
Thompson’s petition was uncontested and Amari’s father, Trevor Douglas Thompson, did not receive notifications of the proceedings because his whereabouts remain unknown, TMZ previously reported.
Trevor Thompson ‘has actively been absent from Amari’s life since’ July of 2014, when his late mother ‘received sole custody of Amari and a support order against’ him, Tristan told the court in his petition, according to The Blast.
Tristan, who has past played for the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics and Sacramento Kings, said that Trevor Thompson ‘has never fulfilled any of his support obligations towards Amari and has been actively avoiding them.’
Tristan told the court that Trevor Thompson ‘has done nothing to support or raise’ Amari ‘and has relinquished all rights to have any say in’ his care moving forward.
Tristan said that Amari ‘has medical diagnoses that render him unable to provide basic care for himself and requires a Guardian to provide that care as well as take him to medical appointments.’
Amari will also get $103,475 because of Andrea’s passing, and Tristan as guardian can protect his assets, TMZ previously reported.
Tristan said in legal docs that a guardian ‘is also needed to protect Amari’s inheritance from loss or injury.’
Tristan said in his petition that ‘appointing a guardian for Amari would be in his best interest because it would ensure that someone would be responsible for providing and fulfilling his basic needs.’
