Cher commits to helping Virginia woman, 96, to return home

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A judge says a 96-year-old woman whose late-life marriage to a 95-year-old beau was widely publicized should be returned to her longtime northern Virginia home after the musician Cher promised to pay to fix it up.

In a court deposition, Cher said she was inspired last year when she a saw news story about Edith Hill and her newlywed husband, Eddie Harrison.

Hill and Harrison were separated after their marriage became embroiled in a court dispute over whether Hill had the mental capacity to marry her companion. Court records indicate that Hill suffers from mild dementia.

Harrison died in December, just weeks after Hill was taken away to Florida on the recommendation of a court-appointed guardian, but a custody dispute continued over who should care for Hill and where she should live.

Cher said she will help pay for needed upgrades to Hill's family home in Alexandria. And earlier this month, a judge ordered that Hill should return to Alexandria once repairs are complete.

More