Entertainment

Britney Spears' Father Files To End Her Conservatorship

by Christina Marfice
J. Merritt/AFP/Getty

Britney Spears will finally be free after her father, Jamie Spears, asked a judge to end her conservatorship

It’s finally happening. After a lengthy and often heartwrenching battle, Britney Spears is about to be free from the conservatorship that has ruled her life and finances for nearly 14 years. In a new court filing, her father, Jamie Spears, has asked a judge to finally end the conservatorship.

This news comes after Jamie Spears insisted for 13 long years that the conservatorship was necessary to protect Britney. It was imposed in 2008 during the peak of concerns about Brit’s public behavior, mental health, and potential drug use. Last month, Jamie said he would eventually step away from his role, but he never gave a timeline for doing so. Now, in a court filing submitted on Tuesday, he has asked for the conservatorship to finally end.

“As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter,” Jamie’s lawyer, Vivian Lee Thoreen, wrote in the new filing. “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.”

Thoreen continued to say that Britney has recently “demonstrated a level of independence that calls into question whether a conservatorship of the person is required.” She cited news reports that say Britney has been driving (something she was not allowed to do under conditions of her conservatorship), and that she’s hired her own lawyer to represent her own interests. Early in the conservatorship, a judge determined that the singer was incapable of hiring her own lawyer.

“If Ms. Spears has the capacity and capability to engage counsel on her own, she presumably has capacity and capability to handle other contractual and business matters,” Thoreen wrote.

Britney’s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, called the new filing “vindication,” but warned that Jamie Spears is only stepping down voluntarily to avoid repercussions for his years of keeping his daughter in an unnecessary conservatorship.

“To the extent Mr. Spears believes he can try to avoid accountability and justice, including sitting for a sworn deposition and answering other discovery under oath, he is incorrect and our investigation into financial mismanagement and other issues will continue,” Rosengart said in a statement.

Britney had not yet officially filed a formal petition to ask for her conservatorship to end, though she has asked a judge to remove her father from his role overseeing her finances and estate. Her personal life, included medical decisions, has been overseen by Jodi Montgomery, a professional conservator, since 2019. In June, the singer made a rare appearance in court where she gave a lengthy and heartbreaking testimony, accusing her entire family of conservatorship abuse that included reproductive coercion.

Britney’s next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29.