Why Britney Spears & Sam Asghari Risk Court Dissolving Marriage If They Wed Before Conservatorship Ends
A family law attorney tells HollywoodLife why Britney Spears shouldn’t get married before her conservatorship ends.
Britney Spears, 39, is now engaged to longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari, 27, but that doesn’t mean they should be getting married anytime soon. Family law attorney Sabrina Shaheen Cronin, who is the founder and managing partner of The Cronin Law Firm, JD, MBA, tells HollywoodLife that rushing to the alter could potentially change Britney’s conservatorship since “her private life has been heavily regulated.”
“Britney has been under strict supervision for years, and, based on what has been shared and reported, her private life has been heavily regulated,” Cronin EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife. “The conservatorship is supposed to be in place to make decisions that are in Britney’s best interest, so at this point, it would likely be up to the court to determine if the conservatorship is necessary and what the ramifications of the marriage would be if any.”
The “Lucky” singer revealed she’s engaged to her boyfriend on her Instagram account, which has since been deleted, on Sunday, Sept. 12. The singer posted a video of herself posing alongside Sam, while flashing her engagement ring for the camera. She looked over the moon as she silently gushed and smiled next to her handsome beau.
The engagement news is something the Oops!…I Did It Again singer has been wanting. During her bombshell court testimony, she opened up about this and her desire to have more children. “I want to be able to get married and have a baby,” she said to Judge Brenda J. Penny on June 23, alleging that she has an IUD in place to prevent pregnancy that her conservators — including Jamie Spears, 68 — refuse to let her take out. “I have an IUD in my body right now that won’t let me have a baby and my conservators won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out,” she…they don’t want me to have another baby,” she added.
Since her estranged father Jamie Spears, 69, agreed to step down as conservator of her estate, there have been huge strides to ending the conservatorship once and for all, however, there are many factors that are unknown, especially with her new engagement. Will ending the conservatorship be enough for Britney to marry her beau of five years or can her marriage be dissolved by the courts?
“The short answer is ‘yes.’ Marriages can be dissolved if there is good cause to do so. In the case of a conservatorship, generally, the protected individual has been deemed mentally incapable of making their own decisions,” Cronin explains. “In order to enter a marriage, both parties must be competent enough to understand what is happening and the consequences of the decision they are making. In California, mental incapacity is one of the few reasons a court may deem a marriage invalid.”
This means that as it stands Britney’s current conservator remains in tack and the current conservator, her father, could argue for the marriage to be voided. “It is possible, given the law, that the current conservator could petition the court to dissolve the marriage and argue that the marriage should be voided, and thus dissolved, due to Britney’s inability to consent because of mental incapacity,” Cronin continues. “Although it is possible, it may not be entirely probable considering that Britney’s current conservator seems to be on her side when it comes to loosening the reigns and allowing Britney to exercise more control over her life.”
While it may not be a perfect setup for the pop star and it’s unclear if the newly engaged couple will be rushing down the aisle or not, the two are enjoying their engagement and celebrating the huge milestone the best way they can.