A French judge is reported to have placed screen legend Alain Delon under reinforced legal guardianship, a source close to the case and a judicial source have said.
Delon, who starred in classics such as Le Samouraï, Swimming Pool, The Leopard, and Purple Noon, has been in poor health since he suffered a stroke in 2019.
A guardian had been in charge of the 88-year-old's medical decisions since January, but Thursday's decision is a step further.
"It implies he is no longer free to manage his assets or take decisions, which allows for the management of certain medical aspects concerning him," the source said.
The particular level of guardianship that has been ordered usually means a guardian manages a person's bank account and expenses.
Delon is believed to be living on his estate in the village of Douchy, more than 130 kilometres south of Paris.
A judge in the nearby town of Montargis is reported to have made the legal guardianship decision on Thursday.
A judicial source said lawyers had asked for the opinion of a doctor, who then alerted the judge.
Delon has recently been at the centre of an escalating family feud between his sons Anthony and Alain-Fabien, and his daughter Anouchka.
The quarrel went public after the eldest son, Anthony Delon, told Paris Match magazine that his father was in a "weakened" state.
He has accused his half-sister Anouchka Delon of wanting to take their father to Switzerland, a country of which the actor has been a citizen since 1999, against his will to avoid "huge tax" on inheritance.
She has replied that she wanted to take him there for medical treatment.
Police have seized 72 firearms from Alain Delon's home because he did not have permits for them.
In the latest development, Anouchka Delon is suing her brothers for infringing on her private life by publishing a conversation between her and her father.
A trial date has been set for April next year, a court said last week.
Alain Delon sold some 80 works of art at auction in June for more than €8 million.
Source: AFP
