Unpacking Britney Spears’ Conservatorship from an Attorney’s Perspective

In 2008, pop star Britney Spears was put under a court-sanctioned conservatorship. That meant other people (including her father), named as conservators, could make decisions about her career and money. The story has attracted so much attention that it has its own New York Times documentary, and its own hashtag on Twitter, known as the #freeBritney movement. Recently, after 13 years as conservator, Britney Spears’ father finally agreed to step down from managing his daughter’s estate and career.

Britney Spears’ conservatorship and the associated #freeBritney movement have brought a lot of attention to these legal scenarios, but what do guardianships and conservatorships actually entail?

On today’s episode of the Taxgirl podcast, Kelly is joined by Alexandra “Sasha” Golden to explain more about conservatorships and why Britney Spears’ case has folks so captivated. Sasha earned her undergraduate and law degrees from Boston College and has practiced law in Massachusetts since 1994. Attorney Golden is a long-standing member of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and of the Probate and Solo and Small Firm sections of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Listen to Kelly and Sasha talk about Britney Spears & conservatorships:

What is guardianship and conservatorship, and why do they feel so “extraordinary” when it comes to major cases like Britney Spears? Sasha explains that a guardianship controls a person, while a conservatorship controls a person’s estate. However, in California (where Britney’s case has been handled), both are lumped together as a conservatorship.
What are the specific reasons a court may instate a guardianship or conservatorship? Sasha explains the legal standards for an individual who is incapacitated or unable to make decisions for themselves; the first key step is obtaining clinical proof of the individual’s condition (s).
In the case of Britney Spears, the courts had to receive detailed statements from doctors and psychologists that confirmed her incapacitated state in order to place a conservatorship in place.
Often, guardianship can be consensual between guardians and the individuals. On the other extreme, such as a case with someone with advanced dementia, an individual may not be able to agree or disagree to anything, and a guardianship is put into effect for their best interest.
After a guardianship or conservatorship is put in place, there must be periodic updates and court reviews to share how things are going and what recommendations there are going forward.
Conservatorships often involve a lot of money. In the Spears case, her personal estate is somewhere in the range of $60 million. As a conservator, you must manage an estate in the individual’s best interest. But Spears’ father has reportedly taken $16,000 a month for his own salary, while Britney has allegedly been given $2,000 a month of her own money.
Who gets to be the guardian or conservator? It can be a family member like a spouse, child, parent, or sibling, but complications can arise when conservators do not manage their responsibilities in the individual’s best interest.
What happens when conservators mismanage funds, or even when well-meaning conservators hire financial assistance that goes haywire? The fault falls on the person acting as the fiduciary, but the details can get hairy.
What are some good steps to take initially if someone feels a person in their life might need a conservatorship? Sasha says she always encourages people to start by hiring a geriatric care manager to help sort out the details and advocate for the individual. The next step would be bringing an elder care attorney into the team.
Something that’s getting a lot of buzz now is called supportive decision-making, where a person chooses people in their life to give them feedback on the decisions they want to make. This can be a less extreme alternative to guardianship or conservatorship.
In the Spears case, Sasha says there seems to be some “long standing dysfunction” in the Spears family, which is likely contributing to the complex drama of her estate management and her father’s decisions.

More about Kelly:

Kelly is the creator and host of the Taxgirl podcast series. Kelly is a practicing tax attorney with considerable experience and knowledge. She works with taxpayers like you every day. One of the things she does is help folks out of tax jams and, hopefully, keep others from getting into them.

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