Carol Burnett seeks temporary custody of grandson following daughter’s drug addiction

Comedy legend Carol Burnett is seeking custody of her grandson Dylan Joseph Hamilton West, born 2006, after her daughter Erin Hamilton’s long struggle with substance abuse. 

Burnett, 87, told Page Six in a statement, "Due to addiction issues and other circumstances that my daughter, Erin, has been struggling with impacting her immediate family dynamic, my husband [Brian Miller] and I have petitioned the court to be appointed legal guardian of my 14-year-old grandson.”

“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,” she continued, “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.”

According to the court documents obtained by The Blast, Burnett and her musician husband Brian Miller, 79, are only seeking temporary custody.

The outlet revealed, “Throughout her adult life, and since Dylan’s birth, Erin has suffered from severe substance abuse and addiction issues. 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.”

The court documents released by the online source added, “Dylan’s living environment has long been unstable, unpredictable, and unhealthy for a child. This culminated in a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigation and juvenile dependency proceedings in 2018 and 2019.”

Carol Burnett has dealt with substance abuse in her family numerous times before. Her oldest daughter, Carrie, also dealt with substance abuse prior to getting sober before her 18th birthday. She died of complications from cancer in 2002 at the age of 38.

Erin Hamilton, 52, was placed on an involuntary 5150 psychiatric hold following a suicide attempt in July 2020.  Dylan’s father, Kurt West, also recently checked into rehab himself.

Hamilton is a singer who has had multiple hits on the US dance charts, including two number ones in 2008. She also has an older son, Zach, born in 1997.