Paul Walker’s mom seeks guardianship of actor’s daughter Meadow

In life, Paul Walker was a private man, by Hollywood standards. In death, his affairs have become much more public.

Witness the attention around his mother’s new legal bid for guardianship of his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow. Court papers were filed Tuesday, TMZ reported, with Cheryl Walker alleging her granddaughter’s mother, Rebecca Soteros, has a drinking problem that makes her unfit to care for the girl or to make decisions regarding the $16-million estate Meadow inherited.

Walker, who died Nov. 30 in a fiery Santa Clarita car crash with friend Rick Rodas, had in his will expressed a desire that his mother be the guardian of his daughter after his death. He and Soteros had never married.

The move caught Soteros by surprise, a source described as “close to the situation” told E! News on Thursday.

“There have been discussions but no one told them [Soteros and her daughter] they were going ahead with it,” the source said. “They first heard about it when they saw it on TMZ. They are very disgusted by this. It is such disregard for their feelings.”

Current living arrangements of those involved are unclear: The court documents reportedly state that all three are living together under Cheryl Walker’s roof, but the E! source said that’s not exactly right — rather, mother and daughter had lived with Cheryl Walker only “on and off” while finding a new place to live.

The papers state that Meadow has been living with her grandmother since August 2012, after a year living with Paul Walker, People reported. However, the E! source said mother and daughter had been living in Santa Barbara together in a house paid for by Paul Walker from 2011 into 2013, with Meadow moving in with her grandma only a few months before her dad’s death, to be closer to him. Meadow and Soteros had previously lived together in Hawaii.

The filing reportedly says nothing about changing Meadow’s living situation.

“It’s just crazy how people blow things out of proportion,” the E! source said of Walker’s allegation of alcoholism. Soteros does have two DUI cases on her record, however: One from 2003 in Newport Beach (she pleaded guilty) and another in 2013 in Hawaii that’s still pending.

A guardianship hearing is scheduled for April 30, People said.

Meanwhile, four months after Paul Walker’s death, the cast and crew of “Fast & Furious 7” are finally getting back to work on the film.

“This is the only movie I ever worked on where we are all real close even after the movie is over,” cast member Tyrese Gibson told TooFab. “It wasn’t just losing a costar, he was family for real. That’s why it took so long to recover.”

There will be “a strong prayer” by the group before any production starts, he said. The movie is set to hit theaters in April 2015.

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