We all remember Britney’s (unfortunately) very public breakdown back in 2008. Images of her attacking a car with an umbrella and shaving her head were splashed across the tabloids.
Behind these images, what we did not know at the time, was that Britney’s family were taking steps to control her financial and health decisions while she recovered from the mental health issues she was experiencing. In the UK we would call it a Deputyship Order but in the US it is called a Conservatorship.
Almost 14 years ago Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, was appointed as her Conservator, as it was established that Britney did not have mental capacity, and he began making decisions regarding all aspects of her life from birth control to what shows she would perform.
Mental capacity can be a fluid concept in which individuals may not have capacity one day and regain it the next. Other times individuals lose capacity and never regain it. Britney has now been found to have capacity and in the UK, if it had been a Deputyship Order, it would have automatically come to an end. However, in the US the individual has to petition the court to end the Conservatorship.
Britney and her new legal team (with some help from the #FreeBritney movement) finally succeeded in ending the Conservatorship on 12 November bringing an end to a long battle by the star to be released from her father’s control.
The case led to the popular #FreeBritney movement in which fans arranged demonstrations across the world. It has helped to shine a spotlight on the treatment of those subject to such orders in the US, but it has also led to practitioners in the UK giving more thought to the differences in comparison to our Deputyship Orders and the role of the Court of Protection in ensuring the most vulnerable are protected.
Spears will retake control of her estate and will no longer be required to pay a team of professionals and attorneys to oversee her affairs.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/12/britney-spears-conservatorship-terminated
