Tom Girardi's Conservatorship Made Official as Court Notes He Has a 'Major Neurocognitive Disorder'

Erika Girardi’s estranged husband Tom Girardi was previously diagnosed with dementia and late-onset Alzheimer's disease

Tom Girardi's younger brother Robert filed the official letters of conservatorship in court on Monday, making him the effective conservator over Tom's person and estate.

Court records obtained by PEOPLE cited Tom's dementia diagnosis, which is classified as a "major neurocognitive disorder," as the reason for the conservatorship.

Lawyers for both Robert and Tom had no comment when reached by PEOPLE.

The letters of conservatorship are a follow-up to a previous ruling made at a June 9 hearing, when Robert was appointed as Tom's permanent conservator. The appointment left him responsible for deciding the appropriate care for Tom, 82, as well as giving him control over his estate.

"It's obviously a heartbreaking situation for Robert, but we agree with the court's rulings yesterday," Robert's lawyer, Nicholas Van Brunt, said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time.

Thomas Girardi
Tom Girardi. Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty

During the hearing, Tom — the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Girardi — also spoke out about his conservatorship for the first time. "Obviously, I disagree with the conservatorship altogether," he told the court, according to Law360.

"I think that we should put together the reasons why the conservatorship should be dissolved, and then we'll address it, address the court," the once-famed attorney continued. "Right now, I have nothing to say to the court."

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Despite his statements, however, the judge found that Tom "consents and does not object" to the conservatorship.

Earlier this year, Tom's lawyers claimed that he "has had issues" with "mental competence" and it was later announced that he had been diagnosed with dementia and late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

He underwent a mental assessment on Feb. 26 as part of Robert's petition to become his permanent conservator. Robert was granted a temporary conservatorship in February, which became permanent at the June hearing.

Erika and Tom Girardi
Erika and Tom Girardi. Jerritt Clark/Getty; Steve Eichner/Sipa

Dr. Nathan Lavid, a Long Beach forensic and clinical psychiatrist, wrote a sworn declaration submitted to the Superior Court of California on March 10 stating that Tom was medically unfit to attend any court proceedings "for the foreseeable future," according to a capacity declaration previously obtained by PEOPLE.

"Dementia impairs his ability to understand the hearing," Lavid wrote. "His emotional distress is directly related to his dementia and exacerbated by his confusion."

Listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day for more on Erika Girardi and Tom Girardi.

Prior to his diagnosis, Erika, 49, had filed for divorce from Tom, telling PEOPLE in November that it was not "a step taken lightly or easily."

A month after she filed for divorce, Tom and Erika were sued for allegedly using the split to embezzle money and have since faced a slew of other legal controversies.

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