No longer a slave for the conservators: Will Britney Spears’ toxic legal fight finally reach an end?

No longer a slave for the conservators: Will Britney Spears’ toxic legal fight finally reach an end?

You probably already know that Britney Spears is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. You also probably know more about her now than ever before. The most noteworthy fact about her at the moment, however, is that she is finally going to be freed from her 13-year-long conservatorship.

Several documentary films were made about her life and her conservatorship, and reactions to the films were a mix of revulsion, rage, and respect. If you’d rather now watch upsetting documentaries about Britney, we have rounded up the most notable facts about the pop star’s faulty guardianship.

Hiring her choice of legal counsel was next to impossible

While under conservatorship, Britney struggled to get legal representation she could trust. Her previous lawyers were the court-appointed Samuel Ingham III and co-counsels who purportedly did not serve her best interests. When the clamor for Britney’s freedom started getting louder, Mr. Ingham resigned as her attorney. Ms. Spears’ lawyer as of this writing is Mathew Rosengart, whom she chose herself.

Unlike Britney’s previous lawyers, Mr. Rosengart is expected to fight to end the legal arrangement and let the pop princess regain control of her life. Attorney Rosengart is empowered to restore Britney’s freedom to drive, go to Starbucks, and paint her kitchen cabinets in any color she desires without interference from the conservators.

Getting married was not allowed

Britney’s prior marriages were largely seen as questionable, and the relentless media coverage didn’t help. She once impulsively wed a childhood sweetheart, and to no one’s surprise, the marriage only lasted two days. These likely galvanized the conservators to deem Britney mentally unfit to get married.

Related reading: Celebrity marriages that were shorter than your last holiday

But while some of her dating choices were indeed head-scratching, they were no more ridiculous than that of other celebrities. No one put Kim Kardashian under a conservatorship just because her marriage to Kris Humphries lasted only 72 days.

Now, Britney is engaged to her boyfriend Sam Asghari, a model and a fitness trainer who looks like he could demolish a courthouse with his bare arms.

Octavia Spencer, who is not a family attorney, admonished Ms. Spears to get a prenup by commenting on the latter’s Instagram account. Normally, we would advise against taking legal advice from non-lawyers. But the Oscar winner’s unsolicited advice was pretty sound: Ms. Spears should sign a prenup. But after all the legal drama she’s been through, we doubt that she would neglect such a crucial thing.

She was not allowed to get pregnant

Britney may be rich enough to bear children, but the legal arrangement barred her from making that decision for herself.

It’s reasonable to expect that individuals under legal guardianship will not be allowed to have children of their own. But since 2008, Britney has earned millions from her sold-out concerts, albums, and various other projects. If she was capable of earning millions for herself and her team, she should have been regarded as being of sound mind, able to decide to bear children.

But under the conservatorship, she was not allowed to make decisions for her reproductive health — it was recently revealed that she was using contraceptives against her will. With the conservatorship’s looming termination, Britney will be free to have a baby (or babies) … one more time.

What happens to her child custody case?

Once freed from the conservatorship, Britney and her ex-husband’s child custody arrangement will remain intact … at least according to her ex’s lawyer. The reason for this is quite simple: when the custody arrangement was decided many years ago, Britney and her backup dancer-turned-failed-rapper ex-husband Kevin Federline reached an agreement that worked for them. That is, notwithstanding K-Fed’s team’s insistence over the years to increase child support payments.

Kevin and Britney currently have a 70-30 custody arrangement. Custody of their children is, in fact, no longer as contentious as it was in, say, 2009, especially since their kids — 15-year-old Jayden and 16-year-old Sean Preston — are old enough to have a say in the arrangement. Soon, Britney’s boys are going to turn 18, which is old enough to refuse visitation from either parent.

And by the time the boys turn 18, Britney could be staging a massive comeback or touring the world. In any case, once-contentious child custody matters would by then be a thing of the past.

No longer a slave 4 U, Mr. Spears

In her first-ever public court speech, Britney said her family should be put in jail. Her emotional speech was directed mainly at her father, Jamie Spears.

It remains to be seen, however, if Mr. Spears will be punished for his alleged crime of holding hostage one of the world’s most bankable pop stars, and particularly for more egregious crimes like wiretapping her bedroom.

He’s no longer her conservator, and if Britney and her team will have their way, Mr. Spears’ alleged misconduct will be thoroughly investigated. Perhaps Britney’s army of fans who called to #FreeBritney could work their magic and ensure Mr. Spears gets punished to the full extent of the law.

Buckingham, LaGrandeur, & Williams handle divorce, child custody, and child modification cases for clients in Washington state. Our team in Renton, Seattle can ensure you avoid a toxic, outrageous, and high-conflict case (like Britney’s). Call us today.