Tyler Christopher Embroiled in Guardianship Drama With Sister
Soap fans who have watched Tyler Christopher play Nikolas on GENERAL HOSPITAL and Stefan on DAYS OF OUR LIVES are well aware of the actor’s struggles with substance abuse which have led to arrests and a deadly accident where he fell and fractured his skull in 2019. And while he was recovering from his brain injury, Christopher’s sister, Susan Asmo Baker, filed a petition to place him under guardianship with her in charge of his life.
“I never thought in a million years that I would be taken advantage of by a family member,” Christopher told Bloomberg Law. “I was recovering from a brain injury so the choice for guardianship was made for me without my knowledge.”
A judge approved Baker’s request in early 2020, and she was given control over his finances. Among her duties were negotiating with Christopher’s creditors, hiring a lawyer to represent him in his pending divorce, and selling his house.
Christopher successfully ended the guardianship in September 2021 but said that he discovered “various irregularities” in his sister’s handling of his accounts. He is alleging that Baker used $40,000 for her own personal use, including paying off her credit card debt, moving her family from North Carolina to Ohio, and miscellaneous spending for her own family.
In June 2022, Christopher’s attorney filed a motion seeking a forensic accountant to examine his sister’s spending, and although Baker initially asked a judge to deny the motion, in early 2023, she agreed to hire an accountant to review the situation.
If the forensic accountant discovers that Christopher’s allegations are true, Baker will legally have to pay her brother back the money she misused. If not, then Christopher will be required to reimburse his sister for the cost of the accounting.
While he was happy to be able to quickly dissolve the guardianship, Christopher was unprepared for the difficulties that came when that particular can of worms was opened. “Being homeless was a far better circumstance than being in the guardianship,” he declared.
