UPDATE: Britney Spears Freed From Conservatorship
The pop star will retake control of her life and money.
UPDATE (November 12, 2021): A Los Angeles judge has terminated the conservatorship that has controlled Britney Spears‘ life and fortune for almost 14 years, The Associated Press reports.
Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny dissolved Spears’ conservatorship on Friday, freeing the 39-year-old singer from the legal arrangement that allowed her father James Spears to make decisions about her career, finances and personal life since 2008.
The ruling comes five months after Spears publicly addressed the conservatorship for the first time in court. At the hearing on June 23, the pop star revealed the abuse she suffered under the controversial arrangement, including being forced to take medications.
UPDATE (September 29, 2021): Earlier this month, Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, filed a petition to terminate his conservatorship with his daughter. Now, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny has officially suspended the elder Spears from the arrangement at a court hearing held earlier today.
According to BBC, Penny assigned John Zabel, a California-based accountant chosen by the artist’s legal team, as the temporary conservator of her finances. Spears has not been in control of her own funds since 2008.
Spears had argued that Zabel “was not qualified to oversee the singer’s $59 million USD fortune,” the publication stated. However, Judge Penny explained that the ruling “is in the best interest of the conservatee.”
To put an end to the conservatorship completely, the singer’s lawyers requested a new hearing that will take place in the next 30 to 45 days. Stay tuned as we learn more about the case.
ORIGINAL STORY (September 7, 2021): Britney Spears’ 13-year-long conservatorship with her father, Jamie Spears, is finally coming to an end. According to CNN, the elder Spears filed a petition to terminate the arrangement earlier today after agreeing to step down as his daughter’s conservator last month.
“Recent events related to this conservatorship have called into question whether circumstances have changed to such an extent that grounds for establishment of a conservatorship may no longer exist,” the court filing states. “Ms. Spears has told this Court that she wants control of her life back without the safety rails of a conservatorship. She wants to be able to make decisions regarding her own medical care, deciding when, where and how often to get therapy,” the petition indicates. “She wants to control the money she has made from her career and spend it without supervision or oversight. She wants to be able to get married and have a baby, if she so chooses. In short, she wants to live her life as she chooses without the constraints of a conservator or court proceeding.”
The filing also adds that Spears’ father believes that she is capable of handling her own life. “This filing represents another legal victory for Britney Spears — a massive one — as well as vindication for Ms. Spears,” Mathew Rosengart, the artist’s attorney, shared with CNN. “It appears that Mr. Spears believes he can try to avoid accountability and justice, including sitting for a sworn deposition and answering other discovery under oath.”
Since 2008, Spears has been the songstress’s conservator, which put him in charge of her health and medical decisions until he stepped aside in 2019. Afterward, Jodi Montgomery was assigned as Spears’ person. Earlier this year, Spears opened up about how she suffered from abusive treatment under her father’s conservatorship. In July, she wanted to press charges against him for “conservatorship abuse.”
A hearing for the case, which has been previously scheduled, is set for September 29.
