Inside Jay Leno's Request to Become Wife's Conservator — and What Legal Experts Say Could Come Next

Two legal experts break down the former 'Tonight Show' host's conservatorship filing process exclusively for PEOPLE

Jay Leno's legal journey for conservatorship over his wife Mavis is dependent on a few factors.

According to documents obtained by PEOPLEthe former Tonight Show host73, submitted the conservatorship filing on Friday following her dementia diagnosis. He initiated the filing to set up a living trust for Mavis77to ensure that she has "managed assets" to provide her with future care if he died.

Leno stated in the legal documents that his wife of more than four decades isn't contesting the establishment of a conservatorshipnor does she prefer another person to act as her conservator. The comedian is also requesting that Mavis not attend the related court hearing as it would be "detrimental to her mental and physical health."

Related: Who Is Jay Leno's Wife? All About Mavis Leno

Breaking down this process and what's to comeCalifornia probate attorney David A. Esquibias tells PEOPLE: "Jay is asking the court for permissionotherwise known as 'Substituted Judgment,' to create an estate plan (i.e.likely a trust) for his wife because she did not create one on her own prior to [the] onset of her dementia."

"If the court approves Jay's requesthe likely will name himself as her beneficiary due to their 40-plus-year marriage," Esquibias continues. "If the Judge does not grant Jay’s requestthen upon his wife's deatha probate proceeding will be triggered to determine who receives her share of their assetswhich is likely to cost the Leno family hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary legal fees."

If the petition is grantedDavid DuFault — a principal attorney at Sodoma Law — tells PEOPLE that Leno "will be responsible for making all decisions based on the scope that the court gives him."

"Generallycourts like to be as least restrictive as possible," he explains. "I would guess that given her agegiven the idea that there is or appears to be a dementia diagnosisit could be a very broadly-crafted order that says that the petitioner has authority to make all kinds of decisions for herwhich could be dealing with financial assetsselling real propertymaking decisions about beneficiary designations."

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DuFaulthowevernotes that "there can be scrutiny by the court because usuallythere is an ongoing obligation to disclose what has happened."

As for the timeline of conservatorship's approval or denialDuFault says it "depends."

"If it's contestedit could take a while," he explains. "If there's not a lot of disputeif the evidence is therethat she is maybe slipping or is losing some of the capacityand it's not being challengedit probably could happen pretty quickly."

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Read the original article on People.