Britney Spears conservatory courtship: The timeline

Britney Spears could finally see light in the midst of her struggle against the conservatory that has been controlling her for the last 13 years. A judge in Los Angeles court on 29 September finally granted a request from the pop singer’s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, to remove her father, James Spears, known as Jamie, as a conservator of her estate.

In the United States of America, the conservatorship, or also known as guardianship, is a legal mechanism for people who are unable to manage their affairs to the point it harms them without intervention. In California, where Britney’s case is taking place, the mechanism is defined as "a court case where a judge appoints a responsible person or organisation (called the "conservator") to care for another adult (called the "conservatee") who cannot care for himself or herself or manage his or her own finances."

Commonly applied to people with severe cognitive impairment like the elderly or people with severe dementia, Britney’s case is indeed unusual. "I shouldn't be in a conservatorship if I can work and provide money and work for myself and pay other people," Britney on Wednesday (29 September) told the court.

The pop star in June 2021 first stepped up to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to end the conservatorship that has exploited and bullied her and made her feel "left out and alone" since 2008. She was allowed to hire her own lawyer in July, and that was when Rosengart came in. At this point, Britney expressed her plan not only to remove her father as a conservator, but also to charge him with conservatorship abuse.

Rosengart, in the same month he stepped in, speedily petitioned Jason Rubin, a certified public accountant specialising in forensic accounting, as a new conservator for Britney’s finances. The conservatorship Rubin would be holding also extended to the power to make healthcare decisions as well as the power to pursue professional commitment opportunities on Britney’s behalf.

James Spears on 7 September filed a petition to end his daughter’s conservatorship. Britney on 22 September, not knowing that she could petition to end the conservatorship to the court, consented to what her father petitioned. 

Britney has expressed how the conservatory has affected her. She said in June that she could not sleep, cry everyday and became depressed. She also said that the conservatorship prevented her from getting married and having more children by planting unwanted birth control. 

James on his filing in August stated that he had stepped aside as his daughter’s conservator, except for her finances. He was and still is insistent that the decisions he made are in his daughter’s best interest and denied the demands for him to step down months ago.