Britney Spears, 39, is finally free from her conservatorship. A judge made the decision to end her 13-year legal arrangement on Nov. 12, meaning the singer is now able to be in control of her $60 million estate. “The conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required…is hereby terminated….in this case the court finds that this was a voluntary conservatorship and there’s no need for a capacity declaration,” Judge Brenda J. Penny said in Los Angeles County Superior Court per Page Six. Britney will not have to testify, per Penny’s statement.
Her lawyer Matthew Rosengart also addressed press outside of the court. “Judge Penny decided to agree with Britney Spears, and as of today, effectively immediately — the conservatorship has been terminated as both her person and estate,” he said.
Mat Rosengart confirms the conservatorship is terminated for BOTH her person and estate, Britney is FREE #FreeBritney pic.twitter.com/wgFAYoiGIM
— Britney Stan 🆓 (@BritneyTheStan) November 12, 2021
Britney’s fiancé Sam Asghari, 27, also reacted to the happy news. “History was made today. Britney is Free!” he wrote on Instagram, captioning an image of the word “FREEDOM.”
The “Toxic” singer formally filed a request to end the conservatorship on Sept. 23, prompting her father Jamie Spears, 68, to also formally file papers to “immediately terminate” the arrangement on Nov. 3. Jamie officially stepped down as conservator of Britney’s estate — which includes her music and business holdings — on Aug. 12, and was replaced by certified public accountant John Zabel. Jodi Montgomery served as conservator of her person.
Britney’s conservatorship began in 2008, following a psychiatric hold at UCLA Medical Center where she underwent mental evaluation. In February of that year, Jamie formally requested the Los Angeles Country Supreme Court to put Britney into an emergency temporary conservatorship, which is legally defined as judge appointed care of a responsible person (the conservator) to care for another adult (called the ‘conservatee’) who cannot care for himself or herself or manage his or her own finances. The situation was made permanent by Oct. 2008.
While Britney has remained quiet about the situation for years — even releasing albums Femme Fatale, Glory, and performing in a highly successful Las Vegas residency show without skipping a beat — curious fans took to social media to share their concerns about Britney’s legal situation. The #FreeBritney movement was eventually born out of a podcast dubbed Britney’s Gram, prompting the pop star to finally acknowledge that she had been kept under the conservatorship against her will.
The Louisiana native addressed her concerns in two back-to-back court hearings in June and July 2021. “I haven’t been back to court in a long time, because I don’t think I was heard on any level when I came to court the last time….The people who did that to me should not be able to walk away so easily,” she said in front of a judge, where she also alleged she was “forced” to work and unable to remove an IUD to have more children. “I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive….I don’t feel like I can live a full life,” she also said in June.
Britney has also been vocal about her situation on social media, placing blame on her mom Lynne Spears, 66, as well as calling out her sister Jamie Lynn, 30. “Pssss my dad may have started the conservatorship 13 years ago … but what people don’t know is that my mom is the one who gave him the idea !!!! I will never get those years back …. she secretly ruined my life,” Britney claimed on Nov. 2. Weeks prior, she shared a cryptic message about the “people closest” to her, later calling out Jamie Lynn directly for performing a song of hers at 2017 awards show.