Britney Spears Conservatorship Finally Ends

(https://thewhitonline.com/2021/03/arts-entertainment/framing-britney-spears-documentary-explains-freebritney-movement/)

The #FreeBritney movement has been trending for a long time because of Britney Spears’ fans and supporters speaking up for her, and her ongoing situation. They finally have something to celebrate as her conservatorship has officially ended as of September 22nd, 2021.

For those who may not be familiar, Britney Spears’ father, James (Jamie) Spears has been her conservator for the past 13 years, since 2008. According to US law, ​”conservatorship is the appointment of a guardian or a protector by a judge to manage the financial affairs and/or daily life of another person due to old age or physical or mental limitations.” As a conservator, he has thoroughly controlled Britney’s life and finances.

Needless to say, Britney has struggled immensely in the public eye.

She first started performing at the age of 4 and was groomed to be a “pop star”, with an agent at age 8. She signed her first deal in 1997 at the age of 15, and over the next two decades, released several platinum albums with consecutive world tours. She was named the world’s most powerful celebrity in 2002 by Forbes.

Things began to take a turn in 2008, when Britney suffered from a series of mental breakdowns that were highly publicized, and was involuntarily admitted to psychiatric hospitals at the age of 27. It can easily be deduced that these mental breakdowns were a result of being highly criticized and harassed all her life, due to her fame. She never had a “normal” life and it does not take a psychologist to conclude how damaging that can be to one’s mental health.

Her state at this point in her life is why the court granted her father conservatorship over her because he was able to prove that she was incapable of controlling her own life.

Britney’s net worth is $60 million, but she has no access to it because her father has controlled all her assets and personal funds for the last 13 years. Her Las Vegas residency in Caesars Palace from 2013 - 2017 alone grossed $137.7 million.

In fact, the conservatorship has negatively impacted her net worth, earnings, and career.

Britney stopped doing commercials in 2015 and hasn’t released any new music since 2016 in an attempt to resist her father’s control over her life. She has further spent millions of dollars in legal fees trying to end his conservatorship.

In November 2020, Spears’ lawyer told the court that "My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father. She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.”

Kevin Federline, Britney Spears’ ex husband, does have a majority custody of their two sons. He has a restraining order against Jamie Spears restricting interactions between Jamie and his grandsons due to an incident in 2019 where he allegedly assaulted his grandson while he was visiting Britney, but no charges were filed.

In September 2019, Britney’s care manager, Jodi Montgomery became her conservator when Jamie Spears stepped down due to health problems. However, Jamie Spears still remained in control of Britney’s finances while Montgomery was in charge of her personhood.

In August 2020, Jamie Spears wanted to return back to his role as Britney’s conservator, which is when Britney spoke up against her father, and said she preferred that Montgomery stay her conservator.

On November 4, Britney officially filed a motion to permanently remove her father as a co-conservator of her estate. She requested Bessemer Trust Company to be her conservator instead, but her request was denied. This is when she refused to perform so long as her father was her conservator.

In February 2021, Judge Brenda Penny denied Jamie Spears sole conservatorship and instead approved a partnership between Jamie Spears and Bessemer Trust Company, which is not exactly what Britney wanted. In light of this, Britney testified in June 2021, and her testimony was very passionate as she thoroughly explained how her father’s control has ruined her life. Due to this testimony, Bessemer Trust Company stepped down as a possible conservator for Britney, and Jamie Spears remained conservator for her finances while Jodi Montegomery remained conservator for her person.

To understand the full scope of the control that Jamie Spears has it is important to understand that he has authority over Britney’s estate, tax forms, professional commitments, tours, health, and life. He controls who visits her, her security, and what treatments she requires if any. He allegedly controls whether she can drive herself, vote, hire her own legal representatives, spend her money, see how her money is being spent, use her social media unmonitored, get married, and see her kids.

According to Jamie Spears, Britney needs his conservatorship because she is “unfit” and her mental state is very fragile. But, if she is so “unfit”, then why is she performing, and dropping albums that put her in the public eye? She performed 248 shows with 916,184 tickets sold, started her own clothing line, and was a full time judge on the X-factor while selling 150 million records worldwide.

If she is mentally stable enough to do that then why is not she stable enough to have control over her own life?

Britney has often mentioned that she feels imprisoned, and that having her life “too in control” is not any better than “out of control”.

Britney’s supporters have often said that Jamie Spears is using his daughter for her money, and aggressively controlling her life to ensure he never has to work as long as she is.

Victory finally came Britney’s way when she filed a petition on September 7th to end her conservatorship altogether. After a grueling legal battle, she has fully consented to the termination of her conservatorship after 13 years. Jodi Montegomoey has also consented to end the conservatorship.

Jamie Spears has said that although he believes he always acted in his daughter’s best interest, and denies any wrongdoing, if she feels she is fit to control her life then he will step down as conservator to give her that chance.

Britney’s lawyer is focused on removing Jamie Spears as conservator first and foremost. The termination of the conservatorship altogether is a secondary matter which they are hoping to tackle as well.

It seems likely that Jamie Spears will no longer be in control of Britney’s life by the end of this year. She is hoping to marry her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asghari, and she requires cooperation from her conservator in order to draft prenuptial agreements, which Jamie Spears hasn’t allowed.

In the next hearing on September 29th, Judge Brenda Penny will have to decide whether to remove Jamie Spears as conservator or start the process of ending the conservatorship altogether.