Buzz Aldrin takes children to court
Lawsuit came after his children filed a petition claiming their father was suffering from memory loss
Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin is suing two of his children and a former business manager, accusing them of misusing his credit cards, transferring money from an account and slandering him by saying he has dementia.
Aldrin’s lawsuit filed earlier this month in a Florida state court came a week after his children, Andrew and Janice, filed a petition claiming their father was suffering from memory loss, delusions, paranoia and confusion.
Mental evaluation
They asked for the court to name them his legal guardians, saying Aldrin was associating with new friends who were trying to alienate him from his family and that he had been spending his assets at “an alarming rate”.
Court-appointed mental health experts planned to evaluate Aldrin in Florida this week. In April, the 88-yearold Aldrin underwent his own evaluation conducted by a geriatric psychiatrist at UCLA, who said Aldrin scored “superior to normal” for his age on tests.
“I also believe that he is perfectly capable of providing for his physical health needs, food, clothing and shelter, and is substantially able to manage his finances and resist fraud and undue influence,” said Dr James Spar in a letter to Aldrin’s attorney.
In Aldrin’s lawsuit, the former astronaut asked a judge to remove Andrew Aldrin from control of his financial affairs, social media accounts and several nonprofit and business enterprises. Buzz Aldrin said in the complaint that despite revoking the power of attorney he had given his son, Andrew Aldrin continued making financial decisions for him.
“Specifically, defendant Andrew Aldrin, as trustee, does not inform plaintiff of pending or future business transactions, removes large sums of monies from plaintiffs accounts, and continues to represent plaintiff in business and social capacities despite plaintiff’s repeated requests for such representations to be terminated,” the lawsuit said.