Britney Spears asks court to end her father's conservatorship

[bcla]

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture...lic-testimony-conservatorship-battle-n1271943

So she was able to say things in court that the other side was trying to keep from being said. She claims that she was forced to take medications (lithium) during her Las Vegas performance residency and that she's being forced to take birth control (via IUD) against her will. And apparently she can't marry her boyfriend without permission under the conservatorship.

 

[starry_solo]

Not surprised, but hello, if she was mentally competent years ago, she would have hired attorneys to end the conservatorship then.

 

[low-key]

The court ordered all these leaches to grab onto her money, FREE BRITTNEY

 

[RedAngie]

Sorry, had to do it.

Leave Britney alone!!

 

[neverlandsky]

Glad she was able to make her hearing public unlike Betty Broderick. Britney has a point and I hope the masses and media helps in freeing her. Justin Timberlake is also in support of Britney. Given their past together, he has had a behind the scenes look with her father. Granted Justin's behavior younger, he also took advantage of her as well/used her status to get ahead.

The fact Britney has absolute no control over her body is downright scary as a woman in today's society. Everything is lined up to always go the convervatorship way no matter what once established. Her father go into it with her sons and now her sons can't/won't be around her Dad. Considering how much money is involved, lots of $$$$$$$$$ interested parties want the convervatorship to stay. Hope Britney wins. Doubt it though considering it's CA. Nothing against CA, except their courts. Once something is setup with the courts, it's extremely difficult and costly to undo.

 

[gopher101]

Not surprised, but hello, if she was mentally competent years ago, she would have hired attorneys to end the conservatorship then.

They limited her funds, who she could get into a car with, and practically watched her every move. Hard to get an attorney when you have people who do not want you to get one because they want your money.

 

[gopher101]

This is scary. Poor Britney. She needed help and instead her family jumped in to get control of her money. They don't care about her, just her money.

 

[wenrob]

Not surprised, but hello, if she was mentally competent years ago, she would have hired attorneys to end the conservatorship then.

She literally could not hire her own attorney. Every single thing had/has to go through her dad. My understanding is that once conservatorships like this are put into place they are almost impossible to get removed. She is basically a prisoner. It’s disgusting what her father has done to her.

I’m with lowkey, Free Britney!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Taking lithium while pregnant can cause problems for the fetus. Britany has enough problems without having a baby with birth defects.

I wish there were some test to determine Britney's competency other than public opinion.

 

[Karin1984]

There was an article about this in the Dutch newspapers, that the only good thing that can come out of it is to show how rotten the conservator industry in the US are. According to the writer of the article, it's once you are in, you never get out. And there are no second chances for these people.
It was considered an industry in the article as it keeps so many lawyers, judges and other people at work.

 

[penn19]

This boggles my mind. I knew her dad was in control of her finances but thought it was limited to just the finances. I assumed it was because she had that breakdown years ago. Not that it makes it right but I sort of understood. But what’s coming out now is just hard to swallow. How can she be told which meds to take and when she can see her kids. That is seriously messed up.

 

[gopher101]

Something else the article above does not mention. Britney only gets a 2,000 weekly allowance if she goes to bi weekly meetings and does what her conservators say to do (they can restrict that money is they wish). Her dad gets paid 16,000 a month(minimum from the court) plus his "fees" when he gets her work to tell her what to do and to control her life.

He gets paid twice as much as she does, off her work.

 

[Southernmiss]

From her recent interview, she seemed 'off'. I think she does need assistance managing her affairs, just not her dad.

 

[elsbit]

Without having detailed information about her health and behavior, I can only assume that she does need a conservator and there is sealed evidence to support it. But to me it does not sound like she has any dignity of choice. Can't even paint her cabinets? And the money discrepancy? I get she needs financial monitoring but the pay discrepancy is messed up.

 

[wenrob]

From her recent interview, she seemed 'off'. I think she does need assistance managing her affairs, just not her dad.

She might but how would you act if someone else had complete control of your life? Anything you say or do determines how things are going to go. I’d imagine it’s kind of like having a gun to your head. We talk about people being controlled by cults but at least someone in a cult has a fighting chance to get out of it. These conservatorships there’s almost zero chance of that.

 

[nkereina]

Conservatorships typically don't end because the people under the conservatorship generally don't get better. They're usually granted for people with dementia or developmental disabilities to the point where they can't care for themselves. So the situation is unique. Britney lives on her own and works. While I think she has some behaviors indicative of a mental health battle, I think she's of sound mind enough where a conservatorship would not be granted or required in her current state from the legal perspective.

I think the larger concern is the money side of it. She's gone most of her adult life without having to manage her wealth. She's diagnosed bipolar and I believe spending sprees can happen during bouts with mania. I don't know of any legal way she can be prevented from squandering her money without the conservatorship.

 

[starry_solo]

She literally could not hire her own attorney. Every single thing had/has to go through her dad. My understanding is that once conservatorships like this are put into place they are almost impossible to get removed. She is basically a prisoner. It’s disgusting what her father has done to her.

I’m with lowkey, Free Britney!

That's not the way it works in CA. The conservatee always has the right to challenge the conservatorship and has the right to a court appointed attorney, if one cannot afford/retain an attorney. It's one of those guaranteed rights because, if you think about it, certain liberties are taken away by the establishment of a conservatorship.

Plus, the conservatee isn't the only one with power to continue to challenge the conservatorship. A relative of the conservatee can do so as well.

 

[Suger Mag]

Free Brittney!! Dad is a piece of work. I am glad the Bessemer trust reduced some of his authority

It is her life, her money and she should get to live it.

 

[rotlex]

Conservatorships typically don't end because the people under the conservatorship generally don't get better. They're usually granted for people with dementia or developmental disabilities to the point where they can't care for themselves. So the situation is unique. Britney lives on her own and works. While I think she has some behaviors indicative of a mental health battle, I think she's of sound mind enough where a conservatorship would not be granted or required in her current state from the legal perspective.

I think the larger concern is the money side of it. She's gone most of her adult life without having to manage her wealth. She's diagnosed bipolar and I believe spending sprees can happen during bouts with mania. I don't know of any legal way she can be prevented from squandering her money without the conservatorship.

I don't understand how this can be happening at all, at least to this degree, but in regards to HER money. It's exactly that. HER money. How is that even a factor in this? Why does she not have the right to spend it anyway she wants? She earned it. Not anyone else. This whole issue really confuses and scares the crap out of me.

And I guess that's really the whole problem. Greed. If she didn't have that much money, no one would care at all. She doesn't appear to be any more of a threat to anyone than half the people I run into on the city streets just walking around freely. It's absolutely absurd to me that this can even happen to a person like her in this day and age.

 

[TwoMisfits]

From her recent interview, she seemed 'off'. I think she does need assistance managing her affairs, just not her dad.

I agree - it probably didn't help her case that she wanted to avoid an "evaluation" in ending the conservatorship. However, should she have ever been in a conservatorship? I don't know...I don't know how bad her mental issues were/are - I know my sis was mentally incompetent for a few months (due to a bipolar extreme manic episode, which resulted in hallucinations and hearing voices and an involuntary psychiatric hold, followed by an extreme depressive one, which left her suicidal before she got back to a more normal state), and her spouse and docs had total control for that period...but that was a much shorter period than Britney's. Multiple years is surprising, especially since she seems functional enough to work in her field, albeit her field is a "special" one, that does enable more extreme behaviors as long as you're very talented.

You wish her docs had testified publicly, but that's kinda doc/patient privilege, but they probably know the best what's going on and what would be best...