Category: COURT VICTIM

by Aron Solomon October 2, 2021 Share this: Supporters of Britney Spears celebrate Supporters of pop star Britney Spears hug as they celebrate in Los Angeles after a judge suspended the father of Britney Spears from his 13-years-long role as the controller of the singer’s business affairs. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo While Sep. 29 will go down as a historic day in the 13-year conservatorship involving Britney Spears, given that the court has removed Jamie Spears as conservator, there is a much larger issue for which the clock is ticking. This issue is critical for anyone in California who is under a conservatorship — and its impact could be felt throughout the nation. When Britney Spears, a conservatee under the laws of the state of California, was allowed in July by Judge Brenda Penny to hire her own lawyer, this was truly groundbreaking. Under California law and that of many other jurisdictions in the United States, a conservatee has no right to hire their own counsel. Opinion logo Legally, the conservator essentially has the right of personhood over the conservatee. In other words, if the conservatee wants their own counsel and the conservator doesn’t want them to have their own counsel, not only will it not happen, it is as if the conservatee themselves asked for it not to happen. While a legal reality, this is obviously only one of many logical fictions involved in conservatorship law. A new California Assembly bill, AB 1194, introduced by Assemblyman Evan Low (D-San Jose), seeks to address what conservatorship experts have called a grave injustice. Generally in conservatorships, the relationship between the conservator and conservatee is not subject to either as regular or as rigorous review as there should be given the gravity of… Read More

“I’m here to get rid of my dad and charge him with conservatorship abuse,” Britney Spears told a California court on July 14, 2021. She said that he was ruining her life, and in previous testimony she claimed that a team led by her father controlled her schedule, prevented her from having another baby and bullied her. She may soon get her wish after the judge in the case said she could hire her own lawyer, former prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, who plans to file paperwork soon to end the conservatorship on her behalf. To terminate a conservatorship, California law simply requires the filing of a petition demonstrating that it is no longer required. No one has filed this paperwork yet, according to the latest media reports. Spears’ case is unusual: Conservatorships are typically not imposed on someone who doesn’t have severe cognitive impairments, and Spears has toured the world, released four albums and earned US$131 million, all while deemed legally unfit to manage her finances or her own body. But it does illustrate how easily conservatorships can be abused – which is one reason some members of Congress are considering ways to reform the state-run system. More than 140,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters What is a conservatorship? I teach about conservatorships in my course on aging and law and have written extensively about the parent-child relationship. Conservatorships are legal arrangements that give a third party control over someone else. They can be imposed only by a court, and only a court can terminate them. The person put in charge of the person’s affairs is called the conservator, or the guardian in some states. Conservatorships have been around for centuries and are critical legal mechanisms to help… Read More