The Britney Spears conservatorship saga
has gone through many twists and turns since it started in 2008. Could
it be coming to an end soon?
We recently wrote that
Britney's conservatorship was about to reach a crossroads,
and it certainly has. According to wide-spread reports, including by
TMZ, Britney Spears appeared in probate court on May 10, 2019 to ask the
judge overseeing her conservatorship to give her more freedom and ease
restrictions that have prevented her from making even basic decisions
about her own life, for more than 11 years. In other words, Britney has
apparently
joined the #FreeBritney movement and is
reportedly exploring asking the court to end the conservatorship entirely.
LAS VEGAS, NV - Britney Spears speaks on November 4, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)
Getty
What is the #FreeBritney movement? As
Rolling Stone detailed, comedians and Britney-fans, Tess Barker and Barbara Grey, started the movement through their podcast,
Britney's Gram,
and social media. They recently aired a clandestine voice message from
someone who claimed to have worked for a law firm involved in the
conservatorship. The "Deep Throat" said that Britney had been admitted
to a mental health treatment facility against her will, after refusing
to resume taking medication for her condition. He also said that
Britney's father, conservator Jamie Spears, pulled the plug on her new
Las Vegas show because of it.
This report, amid other concerns of #FreeBritney supporters, led to
renewed social media support to try to "save" Britney. Britney herself
tried to squash the rumors by
posting on Instagram that she was doing what was best for herself and warning fans not to believe everything they read and heard.
But Britney took a different stance during last Friday's court hearing. That court hearing was closed to the public,
at the request of Britney's court-appointed advocate,
who asked the judge to preserve Britney's privacy because issues such
as her medical condition and her two sons would be discussed. But
TMZ still reported that
Britney Spears told the judge that her father admitted her to the
treatment facility, and forced her to take drugs, against her will.
Many media outlets have reported
that Britney's mother, Lynne Spears, appeared at the court hearing with
an attorney and supported her daughter, asking to be kept informed of
Britney's medical condition. She also
recently liked social media postings by fans that also suggested Britney's conservatorship should end and that she may have been held against her will.
In California, a conservator appointed in probate court does not have
legal authority to force a conservatee, like Britney Spears, to receive
mental health treatment or psychiatric medications. Another type of
conservatorship, called an LPS Conservatorship, does allow for this
authority, but unlike traditional conservatorships, these court
proceedings can only be initiated by certain government agencies and
automatically expire after one year.
In this case, Jamie Spears did not have legal authority to force
Britney into treatment or to take psychiatric medications. But that
doesn't mean that Britney's reported claim that she was held against her
will is wrong. Rather, because Jamie has so much control over Britney's
life through the conservatorship - including decisions like
whether to get married,
to perform or live in Las Vegas, or even if she can drive a car - he
easily could have refused to grant consent for Britney to do any number
of things unless she agreed to his request to enter the mental health
treatment facility.
In other words, Jamie could have indirectly forced her into treatment
even if he could not explicitly sign her in against her will. But, even
if Jamie Spears did so, he may have done it out of an earnest believe
that Britney needed the treatment.
TMZ previously reported that Britney was not doing well and her old course of medications stopped working, necessitating heightened treatment.
Also, it's not clear if Jamie Spears really did force Britney into
inpatient treatment. The same TMZ article cited an unnamed insider who
said that Jamie was not the one who pushed Britney into the treatment
facility. Rather, he was reportedly against the idea, but Britney wanted
to check herself in.
The true story remains murky.
So what will happen next?
The judge did not modify the conservatorship -- at least not yet --
but she did order a 730 evaluation. A 730 evaluation refers to
California Court Rule 730, which authorizes courts to appoint
independent experts to investigate, report to the court, and to testify
about any issue the court wants. Some media outlets have reported that
these are rare outside of child custody cases, but that is not really
the case. Courts in every state routinely use court-appointed experts to
evaluate people under a guardianship or conservatorship, or who may be
subject to one, to help judges determine if there is truly a need for
such a restrictive measure.
Conservatorships, as they are called in California (but called
guardianships in most other states), are among the harshest remedies in
the American legal system. They are only to be used when no lesser
restrictive alternative will suffice.
Conservatorships and guardianships are most frequently used for aging
adults who suffer from dementia or other age-related mental disorders.
They are less common for those suffering from mental illness. Indeed,
studies estimate that nearly one in five adults Americans suffer from
some type of mental illness, and between 4.5% and 6% of adults in our
country experience severe mental illness. But only a fraction of these
need the oversight of a court-appointed guardian or conservator.
In California, the legal test for conservatorship is very high. The
person must be unable to provide for basic needs, like food, clothing
and shelter, or be incapable of making medical decisions. For financial
decisions, the requirement is a person being unable to manage financial
affairs or resist undue influence.
Does Britney still meet this legal test, after 11 years? Her many
accomplishments in that time frame suggest otherwise, including serving
as a judge and mentor on the former TV show,
X Factor, and performing in her own Las Vegas show for four years, which grossed a reported $138 million.
At least on the surface, these accomplishments alone make it very odd
that Britney remains under conservatorship, unable to provide even for
basic needs like food and shelter. But could there more to the story
than has been publicly revealed?
The details surrounding Britney's mental health have been kept
private. She is clearly suffering from some sort of mental illness or
condition, but we don't what it is, how hard it is treat, and what will
happen without the control of a conservator. Is Britney's affliction so
severe that, without the drastic remedy of conservatorship, her life
will spiral out of control as it did in 2007 and 2008? Or, as
her mother recently said to paparazzi,
is Britney doing "wonderful"? Has she progressed enough to be ready to
at least try taking control over some aspects of her own life?
Right now, not even the judge has the answers. That is why she
ordered the 730 evaluation. Once that is complete, an expert, or team of
experts -- which will undoubtedly include at least one doctor -- will
make a recommendation and report to the judge. The judge may also permit
the experts to be examined under oath in court. Only then will the
judge have enough information about Britney's current condition to know
if Britney Spears is ready to be free.
And if Britney is found to be ready, it does not mean that changes
will happen all at once. Rather, California law - like other states -
permits less-restrictive alternatives than full conservatorship. For
example, Britney could decide where to live, work, and whom to marry,
but not be permitted to manage her own finances or move out of state.
The law not only encourages, but requires, that conservatorships be the
least restrictive alternative possible.
This leads us to perhaps the biggest factor that casts a shadow over
Britney Spear's conservatorship: The money. Britney reportedly earned
$672 million during her career up until 2016, according to
MoneyNation.com. Yet her annual conservatorship filings reported her net worth as of early 2018 to be
$56 million,
only slightly above her reported 2007 net worth, of $54 million. With
gross earnings soaring during her Vegas run, especially considering her
lucrative concerts, endorsements and merchandising, some have questioned
whether Britney should be worth more by now.
Regardless of those questions, one clear fact remains - Britney
Spears' talent, image, and popularity amount to big, big business. Some
level of control over her will likely remain for the foreseeable future,
if for nothing else than to help her manage the money. There is too
much, financially, at stake for this to aspect to change when the judge
makes her decision, expected to be in September.
But that doesn't mean that Britney can't be free from conservatorship
for many important decisions in her life, and perhaps, eventually, all
of them. But she'll have to first be given the right to prove herself by
making the basic decisions. And if Britney Spears can show that's she
capable of handling responsibility without the help of a conservator for
some decisions, then more and more autonomy should follow.
As #FreeBritney supporters ask, after 11 years, isn't it time for Britney Spears to be given the chance to at least try making
some decisions? That will depend on what the results of the upcoming evaluation and report will be.
Britney fans should prepare themselves that the evaluation may not come out the way they hope. TMZ just
released another report,
this time with Britney Spears' manager going on the record. He
questions whether Britney will ever work again and confirmed that her
medications stopped working. That, combined with Britney being
distraught over her father's recent illness, ended the recent Las Vegas
residency - perhaps permanently.
We will learn more in September. The only thing certain for now is that no one can accurately predict what will happen then.
Danielle & Andy Mayoras are husband-and-wife attorneys, TV Hosts, authors of
Trial & Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights!, on-camera media experts, and keynote speakers.
Full Article & Source:
Making Sense Of The Britney Spears Conservatorship And #FreeBritney
See Also:
Britney Spears attends hearing, conservatorship continued until Sept. 18
As Britney Spears Nears Crossroads, Will Her Conservator Let Her Get Married?
How Britney Spears Overcame Financial Hardship, Custody Battles and Repeated Heartbreak to Find a Surprisingly Normal World
