Reese Witherspoon Attends Hearing in Parents' Bigamy Case

Reese Witherspoon appeared in a Tennessee court Friday for an emergency closed-door hearing regarding a bigamy dispute between her parents.

Earlier this week, the actress' mother, Betty Witherspoon, filed a lawsuit saying that John, her husband of 42 years, had married another woman, Patricia Taylor, on Jan. 14 while he is still legally married to her, The Tennessean reports. (The Witherspoons have been separated since 1996, but never divorced.) Betty Witherspoon is seeking to have John's marriage to Taylor annulled.

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In the court documents, Betty Witherspoon claims that her 70-year-old husband suffers from dementia and has struggled with alcohol abuse. During Friday's hearing, Reese Witherspoon and her brother asked Probate Judge Randy Kennedy to place their father under a conservatorship. Kennedy closed the hearing to the public and news media, and has sealed all court records related to the case.