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Britney Spears is determined to take control of her life. The pop icon testified in front of Judge Brenda Penny to ask for an end to her conservatorship, which has had broad authority over her life, money, and other matters for the past 13 years. “I am not happy. I can’t sleep. I’m angry and depressed. I cry every day,” the star said dramatically in an impassioned testimony given via Zoom.
Since her nervous breakdown in front of everyone in 2007, her father, Jamie Spears, has been managing everything from finances to the smallest elements of the singer’s life.
What is a conservatorship?
When a person becomes incapacitated by illness, the court can step in and grant someone the power to make financial decisions and major life choices for them. That person put in charge is called a conservator. The conservator could be a family member, a close friend or, if no one steps in to help, courts may be petitioned to appoint someone to look after that person’s very existence.
Why is Britney in a conservatorship
Since the controversial events in 2007, when photographers captured her bald and beating them with an umbrella, Britney’s life has been the subject of worldwide laughter, outrage, and skepticism. Then there was the hospitalization, the bitter child custody battles with Kevin Federline, and then the sudden and impressive recovery that allowed her to continue her profession and join TV shows as a guest judge.
Her comments in the 2008 documentary For The Record, in which she claims that her life is “worse than prison,” provided the hint that her fans were waiting for. The hashtag #FreeBritney then evolved from a speculative interest to real activism. Fans all around the world began to interpret hidden requests for help in the singer’s social media posts.
The conservatorship has the power to restrict Britney’s visitors, arranges and oversees her visits with her own children, can take out restraining orders in her name and has the power to make her medical decisions and her business deals as well. Even if she wants to get married, the conservator has to approve that too.
Here are some of the most shocking quotes from Britney’s hearing that give us a more complete idea of the scope of this conservatorship and the damage it has done to her over the past 13 years.
- “I was told right now on the conservatorship I’m not able to get married or have a baby.”
- I deserve to have a life. I’ve worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three year break and do what I wanna do.”
- “I deserve to have the same right as anybody does by having a child, a family, any of those things, and more”.
- “Making anyone work against her will, taking all their possessions away-credit card, cash, phone, passport- and placing them in a home where they work with the people who live with them”.
- “Basically this conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good”
According to the court transcript, Spears described the conservatorship as “abusive” and stated, “The only thing comparable is sex trafficking”.
How could Britney have avoided coming under her father’s control?
There are some decisions Britney could have made in advance to avoid having her father be her guardian. Here we lay out some legal tools to consider in these cases:
- For medical situations, a medical power of attorney – a document that identifies a person of your choosing (your agent) to make decisions for you in the event of your incapacity – should be executed. Your agent can be a family member or friend. The key is to make sure it is someone you trust.
- A power of attorney can also be used to appoint someone to deal with non-medical issues. This document can be set up to either take effect immediately or only at such time as you are unable to make your own decisions. The former is known as a “durable” power of attorney, while the latter is a “springing” power of attorney. The durable power of attorney is the more effective of the two in that it requires no consideration of whether a person lacks the capacity to make decisions.
- Consider setting up a trust to administer your assets. Unlike a power of attorney, with a trust, the trustee has sole control of your assets. And there are further legal steps you can take, such as establishing a limited liability corporation or a family limited partnership to manage your assets.
All of these processes will prevent the need for a court to appoint a guardian for you if you become incapable of managing your own affairs. What happened to Britney could happen to any of us, and it needs to serve as an example so that we can avoid more cases like this in the future. The time to plan for potential incapacity is now. Once someone becomes incapacitated, it’s simply too late.
