Introduction
Since Baby One More Time debuted in 1999, Britney Spears has become one of the music industry’s most successful recording artists. For those of us who grew up with the Princess of Pop at the forefront of our media consumption, the years following her 2007 breakdown have been bewildering. What really happened to Britney? Was her conservatorship justified? Or was it just a means of taking control of her career and finances?
February 2008 saw Britney put under a temporary psychiatric hold in Los Angeles following a stand-off with the police where she refused to give up her two sons. Custody of the sons had been awarded to Britney’s ex-husband in 2007. The hospital released Britney, deeming her well enough to look after her own healthcare. However, whilst she had been in hospital, her father Jamie Spears had applied for and was granted a temporary probate conservatorship of: (1) Britney’s person; and (2) her estate. Normally, potential “conservatees” (Britney) would be given notice that a court hearing was going to take place and would have the chance to defend themselves. In this case, Jamie Spears successfully applied to the court to prevent this. The conservatorship was made permanent in October 2008.
In September 2021 Jamie Spears was successfully removed as conservator of Britney’s estate thanks to a petition by Britney’s new lawyer Mathew Rosengart who told the court there were: “serious questions…concerning Mr. Spears’s potential misconduct, including conflicts of interest, conservatorship abuse and the evident dissipation of Ms. Spears’s fortune”.
Since 2019 the ‘Free Britney’ movement has advocated for Britney’s autonomy and there has been mounting debate around her conservatorship, with a growing picture of financial exploitation and unreasonable levels of control over Britney’s personal life, all contrary to how conservatorships should be managed.
The California Courts have said conservators (like Jamie Spears): “should make choices that align with the conservatee’s capabilities and wishes; that support, encourage, and assist the conservatee; and that are in the conservatee’s best interests.”
They have also said conservatorships should only be agreed if it is “the only way to meet the person’s needs” and not where the person:
Can cooperate with a plan to meet her basic needs; or
Has the capacity and willingness to sign a power of attorney naming someone to help with her finances or health-care decisions.
For years the conservatorship was said to be “voluntary”, however evidence from the twelve years shows Britney did not want to be conserved. Changing his tune in September 2021, following mounting scrutiny about his actions as Britney’s conservator, Jamie Spears said the court should consider ending the arrangement if that was what Britney wanted.
Whilst you cannot believe everything reported in the media, a lot of things about Britney’s conservatorship objectively stink. There are a lot of unanswered questions, and the fact the main people in her conservatorship have been dropping like flies in trying to distance themselves from the conservatorship does not aid the picture.
Why did Britney’s court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingham recently resign? Is it true he tried to stop Britney testifying her complaints in the conservatorship? Did he hide the fact that she could request termination of the conservatorship? Why, did a whistleblower tell the podcast Britney’s Gram that Andrew Wallet quit over fears he would be disbarred for further participation in the conservatorship?
We all know the saying ‘no smoke without fire’, but how true are the rumours that Britney was routinely drugged, threatened, recorded and surveyed? Why in court transcripts does Britney say she was forced to perform when she was sick, prevented from removing a birth control device, and that she was admitted against her will to a mental health clinic “as punishment”?
We are left with the feeling that not only Britney, but the world has been gaslighted by those who were meant to be helping her. This is not helped when you add Britney’s very large fortune into the mix (net wealth reportedly over $59 million).
Conservatorship: how it works
In California most conservatorships are either a probate conservatorship of the person and the person’s “estate” (their assets), or a mental health (Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS)) conservatorship.
Bearing in mind Britney’s probate conservatorship was agreed whilst she was still under an involuntary hospital hold, you would think an LPS mental health conservatorship would have been appropriate. These can only be started by a local government agency (and not by a family member) and only last for one year. A family member can be appointed as an LPS conservator but this would usually only happen after one year. Doctors will normally have to give evidence that the conservatorship is necessary. Since Britney was released from hospital, the doctors clearly did not think she needed a mental health conservatorship.
Why then, was a probate conservatorship, normally used for people with dementia, agreed? Probate conservatorships are for conservatees who cannot make health care decisions or manage their money, who are vulnerable to undue influence. Crucially, nearly all probate conservatees are elderly or developmentally disabled. Jamie Spears’ February 2008 petition to temporarily conserve Britney ticked the box that she did not have mental capacity to give informed consent to medical treatment, and requested she be subject to dementia treatment.
The fact Circus was released in 2008 is mind-blowing, considering Britney’s hospitalisation in February 2008. Does the image of a Britney performing in her 2009 Circus tour really fit the image of a person physically or mentally impaired, incapable of making their own decisions, and who is suffering with dementia? Surely, if Britney was mentally impaired, this would be complete exploitation of a vulnerable person?
Financial misconduct
The initial approval of the permanent probate conservatorship was in support of the argument that Britney could not look after herself or her finances without coming under undue influence. Almost immediately Jamie Spears took control of Britney’s career and financial decisions. With this came legal duties to maintain, protect and control the estate. On 10 March 2008 ownership of Britney Touring, Inc. was transferred to Jamie Spears and co-conservator Andrew Wallet. They had control of and entered a host of recording and performance contracts and celebrity endorsement deals during the conservatorship. From 2014 to 2018 the estate reportedly increased in value by at least $20 million.
Disbursements (expenses) for the estate’s financials for the first year of the conservatorship reportedly included:
The brand of Britney never stopped throughout the conservatorship. Despite the conservatorship meaning Britney was technically disabled due to dementia, she continued to work, released four albums, grossed $131 million for the 2009 Circus tour, performed for four years in her Piece of Me Las Vegas residency (grossed $137.7 million), and launched her own perfume and lingerie lines.
By September 2018 Jamie Spears and Andrew Wallet had filed a request to assign the entire interest and goodwill of the trademark “Britney Spears” away from Britney to Baby One More Mark, LLC (a company managed by Jamie and Andrew). The transfer was meant to be from Britney as ‘Assignor’ to the company as ‘Assignee’. So far, this checks out, except for the fact Britney was not legally her own person under the conservatorship, Jamie Spears was. This meant he literally assigned the trademark from himself, to himself.
The UK’s equivalent of a conservatorship is a deputyship. In the UK system deputies must explain any expenses over £500. This is not the case in California with Britney’s conservators able to take a percentage of her income, and a salary for their work.
Jamie Spears received a monthly salary ($16,000 a month from at least February 2009, totalling $2.4 million over twelve years), had his office space paid for and since February 2008 received at least $5 million pre-tax (court documents reviewed by Forbes). Others managing the conservatorship also profited. In May 2009, Jamie Spears and Andrew Wallet reportedly filed the first conservatorship accounts reporting Britney’s estate finances from February 2008 – December 2009. Over $4 million were documented in accounting and legal expenses. That sum included payments to the co-conservators and their lawyers.
In February 2014 Andrew Wallet apparently requested and was granted a raise by the court (Britney did not have a say in this). The court ordered Andrew to be paid $426,000. In October 2018 Andrew again requested an increase, referring to the conservatorship as a “hybrid business model” requiring more effort than a standard probate conservatorship. He described his value add to the conservatorship in that he created: “a stable business environment whereby others have been getting paid millions of dollars. They all get paid promptly as income is received, without court intervention” (Exhibit A, paragraph 28 of previous link).
In September 2019 Jamie Spears stepped down as conservator of Britney’s person, and Jodi Montgomery (Britney’s personal care manager) was appointed. In November 2020 Jamie was no longer sole conservator of Britney’s estate, but joined by co-conservator Bessemer Trust, a professional wealth management firm.
For years Britney was not allowed to choose her own legal representation. Recently her petition to expand her legal team was approved despite Jamie Spears arguing this was too expensive. Ironically, Mathew Rosengart claimed in court filings that Jamie requested Britney pay nearly $2 million to cover the cost of his (Jamie’s) attorneys in the conservatorship battle (and even more ironically The Guardian has reported Samuel Ingham made $3 million as Britney’s court-appointed lawyer).
June 2021 – present
Britney made a public statement in court in June 2021 alleging abuses within the conservatorship, and saying she wanted to end it.
In July 2021, after finally being allowed legal representation, Britney’s lawyer petitioned to remove Jamie Spears from the conservatorship. Jamie agreed to discuss stepping down in August 2021 and was officially suspended as conservator of Britney’s estate in September 2021. His removal was supported by Britney’s medical team who deemed his remaining conservator not in her best interests. Jamie has been temporarily replaced by a professional fiduciary who is a certified public accountant. Britney’s personal conservator remains Jodi Montgomery.
What really happened during the twelve years Britney has been managed and controlled by her conservators is not clear. A lot of the details of the conservatorship have been kept private, and a lot of court documents (at Jamie’s request) have been sealed from the public. A lot of what we know is from the media and speculation, fuelled by comments escaping the conservatorship's inner circle, and snapshots from Britney herself. All of this has created a chaotic patchwork truth.
Whether an investigation will take place is unclear but this would provide answers to whether Britney really needed to be conserved for medical reasons, whether her conservators acted in their own financial interests, whether they abused Britney by controlling her, controlling who she saw, blackmailing her with promises of custody over her children, overworking her to their gain, and a whole host of other allegations.
Changing the system
Deprivation of liberty under a conservatorship is one of the harshest powers in the US legal system. The Britney Spears conservatorship has catalysed conversation around conservatorships and the potential financial and civil rights abuses. Assembly Bill 1194 proposes significant changes to the conservatorship system to increase transparency and accountability, and to offer protections to conservatees like Britney.
In July 2021 the Freedom and Right to Emancipate from Exploitation Act was put forward as legislation that could further protect individuals under conservatorship from abuse and exploitation. If this became law it would include:
the right to petition the court to have a private conservator replaced with a public one;
assignment of an independent caseworker to monitor for signs of abuse, and to inform the conservatee of their rights;
disclosure of finances to stop financial conflicts of interest.
NB. All court documentation here is as supplied on freebritney.net
Timeline
February 2008 – Jamie Spears becomes temporary conservator of Britney’s person, and temporary co-conservator of her estate (lawyer Andrew Wallet being co-conservator).
March 2008 – Jamie Spears begins receiving payment as conservator. Britney's conservators gain increasing control of her assets.
October 2008 – Jamie Spears becomes permanent conservator of Britney’s person, and permanent co-conservator of her estate (lawyer Andrew Wallet remains co-conservator).
November 2013 – Andrew Wallet says Britney is well enough to be “engaged in furthering her career activities”.
March 2019 – Jamie Spears becomes the sole conservator of Britney’s estate (Andrew Wallet resigns).
September 2019 – Jamie Spears temporarily steps down as conservator of Britney’s person and temporary conservator Jodi Montgomery is appointed.
November 2020 – Jamie Spears becomes co-conservator of Britney’s estate with Bessemer Trust as co-conservator. Britney’s mother Lynne Spears tells the court that Jamie imposed “unreasonable and debilitating demands on Britney” as her conservator.
July 2021 – Britney is allowed to hire a lawyer of her choice, Mathew Rosengart, who petitions to remove Jamie Spears from the conservatorship. Britney says she wants an investigation into her father’s conduct during the conservatorship, and into his potential conservatorship abuse.
August 2021 – Jamie Spears agrees to discuss stepping down.
September 2021 – Jamie Spears asks court to end conservatorship after accounting is settled.