For the last few weeks, everyone has been talking about the Britney Spears Conservatorship and how this conservatorship ended up being a temporary conservatorship for 13 years. People are curious about why the conservatorship was established and how it can terminate as Britney has indicated to the Court that she may request that the conservatorship proceeding end after all this time.
How are Conservatorship proceedings initiated? They are usually initiated by family members or friends of the person who needs help. A Petition is filed in Court asking that the person requires help in either personal or financial areas of his/her life and that he/she is unable to do certain tasks. These range from consistently taking medication, attending to doctor’s visits, maintaining a clean home, to all aspects of a persons personal and financial well-being. As for finances, an inability to manage one’s finances or being unable to resist fraud or undue influence can qualify the person for a conservatorship of the estate.
By definition, a California Conservatorship is a court process where someone with the title of Conservator is appointed to make legal and financial decisions for another person titled as the Conservatee. Most recently, Jodi Montgomery has been appointed as the temporary conservator of the person of Britney. Britney’s financial conservatorship is being handled by the Bessemer Trust Company and her father.
Britney’s conservatorship started in 2008 as a temporary conservatorship when she was having difficulty in one of her bipolar episodes and was unable to manage her finances, her children and was being influence by certain men in her life who were interested in her. Her father filed the Petition for Conservatorship to protect her from herself and from the hands of certain individuals who prayed on her.
You may recall that it was said that Britney suffers from the bipolar disorder. First, while this is a mental illness that can be controlled with medication in most cases, it is a lifetime illness. There is no cure for it, but many good medications are available for this disease which if consistently taken can maintain the patient for long durations. By definition, this disease has many ups and downs. Consistent therapy and medication can allow a person to function well in life.
Now, fast forward to 2021. Britney at a status conference in probate court announced that she wants to end the conservatorship. Britney has an opportunity to formally request that via a Petition for Termination of the Conservatorship. Britney stated that she does not want to go through another medical or psychiatric evaluation for this Petition. Normally, at a termination hearing, the Court can receive evidence from many different sources, only one of which is from a doctor. Family members and friends can testify to her well-being or otherwise. The current Temporary Conservator can also testify as to her interactions with Britney as part of that evidence.
How practical is it to terminate the conservatorship in Britney’s case? First, note that she has filed a Petition for Appointment of Jodi Montgomery as the permanent Conservator of her Person. In that Petition, she has stated that she does not waive her right to file to terminate the conservatorship. To free Britney from the Conservatorship, she has to first file a Petition for Termination so that the Court can formally consider her request to end the conservatorship. That is not done at a status hearing.
Britney feels that she was forced to perform despite not wanting to tour. She said “I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do… My management said if I don’t do this tour, I will have to find an attorney…” When an artist has a performance contract, there are millions of dollars at stake at each concert and very large performance insurance policies that protect the vendors and concert venues. As an artist, if you decide you will not show up at a concert, there are significant default provisions in the contract that protect the venues and the vendors. The performance insurances often have indemnity clauses making the artist responsible for non-performance. While Britney may not want to perform, the terms of the existing contracts govern her actions. This is the reason her business manager told her that she will have to find an attorney if she does not do this tour. While it is easy to say I don’t want to work, most of us really don’t have choices in that. If you work as a doctor and one day you decide you don’t want to work, your patient may die. If you are a lawyer and decide you don’t want to show up to court, your client may lose his or her case. Everything has a consequence. With Britney, it is not clear whether Britney understands the consequences of her request not to tour or the consequences of terminating the conservatorship.
Britney has complained that she wants to have a baby and that her conservator did not allow her to remove her IUD. While every person has a right to have a child, having a child or being several months pregnant does not go well with a touring artist. This also affects her performance contracts. Many contracts also have provisions that require the artist to maintain her looks and even her weight. What will it cost to terminate the performance contract or to breach it? We don’t know and can’t guess, but I imagine it has significant default provisions if Britney breaches her contract. Also, when someone is taking Lithium and wants to have a baby, it takes months and months to take her off the medication and no one knows what will happen to her if she is off the medication to get pregnant. I suspect that the Conservator of the Person did not allow for the removal of the IUD because removing it would lead to pregnancy and possibly to a breach of her performance contract.
Britney believes that she does not need a conservatorship when she can work and support all the people who make money from her work. We hope that Britney gets well enough to be able to lead a normal life and to end her conservatorship. We will now wait to see if Britney will file a Petition for Termination of the Conservatorship and will report further. Britney stated that she has done 2 years of AA and was sent to a rehab in Beverly Hills against her wishes where she was monitored day and night. We hope that she will get better soon and be able to fight the good fight and get her life back and we look forward to the end of the Britney Spears Conservatorship and #free #Britney.
Conservatorship attorney Mina Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist in Probate, Estate Planning, and Trust law handling conservatorship trials and contests in Los Angeles California. 818-340-4479 MSirkin@SirkinLaw.com. Ms. Sirkin has been quoted as a media expert on conservatorship matters since 2006.