Britney Spears has been under her conservatorship for a decade. The conservatorship isn’t merely about her estate, her finances, her money, although that’s a big part of it. The conservatorship is really just “taking care of Britney” in every sense. Britney’s father Jamie Spears has control of her finances, he controls her medications, he controls which doctors she sees, he controls which contracts she signs, and Britney isn’t allowed to date someone unless Jamie approves. The only time there was any kind of change to this arrangement was when Britney was engaged to Jason Trawick and Jamie made some sort of deal with Trawick to make Trawick the “co-conservator.” This is one of the reasons why Britney keeps “getting engaged” but not married – because legally, she cannot make the decision to get married. In every legal sense, she’s being treated like a minor child.
Britney’s conservatorship situation has come up again in the past month as Kevin Federline has requested an increase in his child support payments. He has sole custody of their sons, and he determines what kind of visitation Britney gets with the boys. I’ve been saying this whole time that Jamie Spears doesn’t want to tangle with Kevin, because if people really start examining Britney’s situation, it will end up being a huge mess for the conservatorship and for Britney. So that’s why this story is happening:
There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Britney Spears’ conservatorship. A source tells Us Weekly exclusively that the pop princess’ father, Jamie Spears, is looking into ending the court-approved order.
“Jamie is actively consulting with Britney’s medical team to determine if the conservatorship of Britney as the person should finally come to an end,” the insider says. “It’s just a question of timing as she is about to begin the tour, so the thinking is to do it at the conclusion.”
Britney, 36, is scheduled to kick off her Piece of Me tour in Washington, D.C., on July 12. She will travel across North America and Europe before the trek concludes in England on September 1. The Grammy winner has been under the guidance of the conservatorship since 2008, after she was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation in the wake of a highly publicized breakdown and divorce from Kevin Federline, with whom she shares sons Preston, 12, and Jayden, 11. The arrangement states that due to an undisclosed mental illness and past substance abuse, Britney cannot make personal or financial decisions without the approval of her father and lawyer Andrew Wallet.
Yeah, Britney has been on tour before and she still had the conservatorship. She’s completed an entire Vegas residency too. And quite honestly, I’m still of the opinion that she NEEDS the conservatorship. I honestly think a lot of stuff in her life would fall apart if the conservatorship was taken away, if she was allowed to make her own decisions about everything from her medication to her schedule and more. Isn’t it more likely that Jamie Spears is trying to head off criticism in advance of what will probably be a bitter child-support battle?
Photos courtesy of WENN & Instagram.
I saw this yesterday and rolled my eyes at how obvious this PR plant was. Jamie we see you. We know you saw people rightly pointing out the fact that she is under a conservatorship 10 years later. I highly doubt that NOW is when you’re reviewing ending this just because
I think last year there was an article about Blackout’s anniversary and how it was so unusual and kind of unique that Britney, who apparently doesn’t have a serious debilitating health issue, would still be under conservatorship after 10 years. They questioned the fact that if she is able to work in a high level, how can’t she be able to take care of at least more of her life? And more important, how much her father makes as her guardian, since it is a job.
I do believe she should be watched, but not in a case where she can’t even have full access to her kids! This is all very shady and I wish the best for Brit!
Conservatorships (or guardianships) are necessary when a person lacks competence to make appropriate decisions for him/herself in one of more critical areas, like finances, decision-making, healthcare, etc. it has little to do with one’s ability to work or perform other activities of daily living. Some conservatorships only limit the person’s ability to make financial or contractual decisions but still allow him/her to vote, serve on a jury, or make personal romantic choices. Other conservatorships are far more stringent and basically prevent the person from making any decisions whatsoever.
The trouble with someone like Britney is that while she may be functional and mostly competent when she is properly medicated and supervised by others, it is difficult to predict whether she can maintain competence if she were left unsupervised. I do not know her exact diagnosis or whether she suffered any permanent brain damage in the past, but conservatorships based upon mental incompetence due to psychiatric or neurological problems can be very difficult to end.
“who apparently doesn’t have a serious debilitating health issue,”
I don’t think the public has enough information to make that judgement.
I think that Brit is really mad about Kevin Federline’s CS request and is trying to end the conservatorship so that she can get an actual increase in custody which would be taken into consideration for support calculations.
This whole story has completely put me onto K Fed’s side. What on earth is going on with Jamie Spears and the entire family? Either she needs the conservatorship or she doesn’t. If she doesn’t, then keeping her on it is disgusting. If she does, trying to remove it to keep money away from K-Fed is irresponsible and awful. Either way, Jamie Spears looks controlling and manipulative.
This is not how I see it.Maybe she evolved and became mor functional, or maybe he just want to reduce the scale of the conservatorship. In any way, this is a dad caring for his daughter very best interests… set her free so she can take finally full custody of her kids.
And Nothing can make me go onto a leech ‘s side. nothing
It’s highly unlikely that she would be awarded “full custody”. Kevin has had sole physical and legal custody of those boys since they were very small; he would have to do something egregious to have that taken away. If Britney were released from her conservatorship, its conceivable that she might be awarded some custody, but she probably wouldn’t even start with 50/50 right away.
Also, I don’t know if I believe that Jamie is solely concerned about Britney; I would like to think that that is part of his motivation, but he is getting paid handsomely to run Britney, Inc., and there is no payday for anybody if Britney can’t be propped up to work. Also, where was he when she was being exploited and run through the music industry shredder as a teen and a young woman? We don’t know enough to say for sure, but I don’t think it’s outside of the realm of possibility to speculate that the chaos and tumult of her adolescence might have exacerbated her mental health condition and precipitated the crisis that made the conservatorship necessary in the first place. Think of all we know about how the entertainment business works, and then think about a young, attractive girl with a momager who wants fame and fortune at any cost and is willing to look the other way to make sure it happens. I hope Britney wasn’t abused growing up in that system, but I’m not optimistic that she wasn’t.
Finally, I think that Kevin should definitely establish a career path sooner than later, given that the kids are growing up and he’s barely 40, but I don’t fault him for providing a loving, safe, stable environment for those kids. He stepped up to take good care of them and to make sure they were supported and cared for every single day. Yes, he has help, but by all accounts, he is a loving, caring, hands-on dad, and that’s worth a lot. He provided something for those boys that nobody else could, and he did it unquestioningly and consistently.
She’s never going to have full custody of the kids. 50/50 joint custody is the best she can hope for unless Kevin has some kind of severe, debilitating breakdown like she had or develops some crippling addiction that leaves him unfit. I doubt either of those things are going to suddenly develop at this stage of his life.
The boys are old enough to choose who they want to live with. If Britney is not mentally impaired then they can make a case to live with her if they really want to.
I agree with you Ellie….
Me too.
I can see the endgame being to get Brit to get full custody of the kids and take that bargaining chip away from Kevin entirely. She can’t be viewed as fit though if she’s still under dad’s control. Seems like a dangerous game to play with some terrible consequences if it goes sour AT ALL but I guess if his only goal is to make Kevin wish he just shut up and kept the 20k a month…
There’s no way she’d get full custody. Joint custody anytime soon would be a stretch.
For the last ten years she’s been judged unable to care for herself across all facets of her life. Even if the conservatorship was over tomorrow, the fact that she’s been under care for a decade would be a gigantic factor in custody talks for years to come. She’d have to spend years showing the courts that she’s fit to, not just fully care for herself, but fully care for her children. Her kids would almost be nearing adulthood by the time it was a viable option.
Even if they had something on Kevin, something that would ensure he lost custody, Britney wouldn’t get custody. Other family or the state would have to step in.
Agreed. She will never have full custody. I think this is more about getting her some legal custody so that her child support payments don’t increase too drastically. With her income, he could be awarded much, much more. That can be limited if she can obtain more than just visitation. It’s in her favor that they seem to spend about 50% of their time with her, but being just out of a long-term conservatorship doesn’t bode well for a custody grab.
How old are the kids now? In California I think it’s 14 before they can address a judge and say which parent they want to stay with (as long as it’s in their best interest). But they can take the child’s wishes into consideration as long as those wishes are in their best interest. I can’t imagine the kids would want to pack up everything and go live with their mother after living with their dad and siblings for the majority of their life. On top of that – their mother endangered them more than once prior to the conservatorship.
On top of that – if she was deemed unable to care for herself properly for about a decade – I can’t imagine them just handing her the kids. It’d be irresponsible. I’m going to guess she’ll need to prove her competence and that she’s capable of maintaining her health and routines for a decent chunk of time before it’d even be considered.
The oldest boy is 14 this year, I believe.
Jamie probably is thinking he’s got to make plans for when he’s not around any longer. By the bye, does anyone know where her mom is? We only hear about the dad. Either way, she’s his daughter, so one would hope he goes first. Who will take care of her when he’s gone? Because I also agree she does better with oversight. (In truth, so do I)… 🙂
Lynne disappeared into the background when it all hit the fan. Lynne Spears is Dina Lohan 1.0 and has a LOT to answer for with regards to what’s happened in Brits life.
She’s back in the picture, but they don’t show her, and she is still getting money. She’s there along with the shady manager. This makes me so angry I can’t even with this whole thing.
I also think Dan Schneider being let go from Nick might have them feeling a little afraid what THAT would reveal about Jamie Lynn. It would blow this whole thing up.
These people are just too much.
I heard about Dan Schneider being let go, and because of an article I read a few months ago where an anonymous woman said that he molested her friend, I definitely suspect that he’s a predator now. We don’t know who his victims are or aren’t yet though- we’ll have to wait for them to share their stories.
Wouldn’t it be easier for them to just give Federline the money?
You’d think so, wouldn’t you.
It is not that simple. If Jamie agrees to a higher child support payment, the probate court WILL question why it was necessary and whether it was an appropriate expenditure. This is why Jamie reportedly keeps asking KFed to identify what needs of the boys remain unmet and for a specific monthly amount. He needs reasons to present to the probate court in order to obtain any modification to the child support arrangement.
@BearcatLawyer isn’t that britney made much more $ in 2017 than she did when it was negotiated reason enough to raise the payment? that works for anyone else whose ex suddenly is making more $, is it different because she’s under conservatorship? or just this is california law?
this is all very confusing tbh.
I’m not a lawyer, but if Kevin takes it to court and is granted an increase in child support, that takes care of Jamie’s problem, doesn’t it? It doesn’t really have to even involve Jamie if there’s a court order, right? So if he were really just concerned with justifying the expense, wouldn’t he just say “it’s not up to me, take it to a judge”?
When you make the kind of money Britney makes, the mathematical formula is usually ignored because the amount of support would be astronomical. Child support is meant to take care of basic needs, not be a financial windfall for the receiving parent. KFed has not identified any needs of the boys that are not being met under the current arrangement nor has he specified what circumstances, if any, in the BOYS’ lives would justify an increase.
People keep forgetting that under CA law KFed is expected to do his part and provide financial support to his kids. It does not matter that he has full custody and Britney only has visitation rights. CA law requires both parents to support their kids and contribute to their expenses in accordance with their abilities. So a judge might well question why KFed should get an increase when he has mismanaged his money in the past and has apparently let Britney pay for the lion’s share of the boys’ expenses
(and probably the expenses for his wife and other kids too).
So she should just roll over and give him what he wants? You give some people an inch and they’ll take a mile. There’s nothing wrong with making sure you aren’t being taken advantage of.
And why exactly should they do that? Wouldn’t it be easier for Federer to simply get a job?
This. KFed is married and only has two kids with his current wife that live with them full-time. None of the kids are infants anymore. What is so difficult about getting a job? Lots of other people have to work to pay their bills and cannot rely upon child and spousal support payments. Is KFed too special a snowflake for these rules to apply to him?
Besides the lip injections, and bad eye makeup, physically Britney hasn’t looked this good since 2006 (before head shave). I also follow her on IG and she seems so much more present the last few years. She posts her exercise routines, posts herself doing silly things, posts her sons and she seems like she’s in a good place and just all around normal and relaxed. I’ve always had a spot spot for Brit. I hope whatever is going on it’s in her best interest.
I agree. She seems better now than she has in the past.
@JeanGray I agree. Britney is in terrific physical shape and that has to help her mental and emotional state as well. It’s obvious she loves her boys and that helps as well. There’s always been something very sweet about Britney. I’m rooting for her.
I think that he really doesn’t want to have to show where all of Britney’s money is going, and since Kevin asked for a full financial report, Jamie is under the radar now.
He should have offered to increase the monthly payment and reach an agreement. I agree that it’s possible that Britney might still need the help, but hopefully her doctors will have her best interests in mind when they come to their conclusion.
Except he’s already required to give full financial reports under the Conservatorship, isn’t he?
It’s insanely easy to leach money in this kind of situation. Some creative paperwork and multiple job titles are enough to keep him rolling in her dough.
KFed asked to see her taxes and they went nuts. Why?
It is obvious it isn’t about her best interest but more about not wanting to hash it out in court?
But the conservator court already knows the financial info. If Jamie is hiding something then he is either really savvy or the court is complicit.
I hope there’s some independent evaluator looking at her situation, both medically and financially. I don’t trust that everyone in her life 100% has her best interests at heart. If they did, I don’t think she’d be doing something as grueling as touring.
I tend to agree that she needs structure and guidance in her life but not sure conservatorship is the answer, it it sounds like the financial part may still fall under it with it being relaxed to give her more personal freedoms. Her estate needs to be protected, esp as the same people who were there when she went off the rails are back around.
As for Kevin let it go to court as I don’t think he’s going to get the pay day he’s hoping for. He’ll get an increase in accordance with the law but considering she pays for everything else on top, he needs to prove what needs of the boys r not being meet with the current arrangement. CS is all about the kids needs not his.
I hope this is more than PR.
Child support is pegged on the parents income not on “what are the kids not getting”. The idea is that if she still lived with them, their lifestyle would improve on her increased income. The children you bring into this world are entitled to the luxuries they would have had 24/7 access to if you still lived together, especially where their parent is a multi-millionaire.
The court will grant Kevin an increase easily. And if he requests, could even require Britney to stop paying fees directly and to hand it to the only parent with legal custody so that he can make the payments going forward.
Jaime has no leg to stand on and that should have been obvious from his tabloid onslaught on his grandkids primary parent. Thats a panicked man. And here we go with more Jamie bs. If Britney is well enough to go off the conservatorship, why have her on it until its his only viable route left to cut Kevin off? (It would of course still fail in custody terms).
I do not know where you are getting this information, but this is not California law. Child support is not meant to perfectly “equalize” living situations when one parent makes significantly more money. Rather, the system is designed to ensure that BOTH parents contribute to the care and support of their kids and that the kids have their basic needs (food, clothes, shelter, healthcare) met regardless of who has custody. The mathematical calculation in California law is also only a presumption – not a guarantee. Just because Britney has earned significantly more money in the past few years does not automatically mean KFed is entitled to an increase in child support. This request could easily blow up in KFed’s face too since Britney appears to be paying more than 50% of all the child-related expenses and it is obvious from social media that Britney has considerable visitation time with her sons. A court could reasonably conclude that KFed does not need increased child support since he is clearly NOT taking care of the boys 24/7 and he is not paying his fair share of expenses like food, clothing, healthcare, and education.
There’s something bigger going on here. Which side and what, idk, but this seems like it started as a minor issue of child support to a major legal battle.
Speculating… the spears finances are sketch. Yea, if she made more there should be an increase in support. Just as if she made less. But all this? Spears camp doesn’t want KFed camp to know about finances.
P.s. no way should she be off her conservatorship. If that happens its greed over her wellness.
The woman is carrying a world tour and feeding her whole family – yet you don’t think she’s well? 10 years was too long already.
I’d call her stable, not “well.” She has a mental illness. With proper structure and meds I hope she’ll have a fulfilling life but “cured” is not a reasonable goal. Without proper management the current stability would change.
Pho Sho
What bearcatlawyer said and others.
Britney does work and she’s not struggling currently. Even though her Vegas residency was riddled with issues and she was pushed around on a cart for the performances.
Her red carpet events usually have her late or looking heavily sedated with loads of bad fillers and lines of hard living. This is still a great improvement to how she was before the conservatorship. And it’s still needed.
Charlie Sheen starred in a huge show for years, but was a true disaster in his unregulated personal life.
Sometimes this is needed. I still believe britney needs this. And if she didn’t it would have been resolved by now. It wouldn’t be sparked or announced because of this support payment issue.
LadyT
Her dad is forever sketch. To how he drank away the family money. Put the pressure and later guilt on britney for being the breadwinner while still a child. The oversexualizing her image. To his being the link in introducing numerous users to her.
There’s so much baggage there. At least the conservatorship isn’t just him. Its accounts, court officials, lawyers, medical professionals all at work.
It isn’t a question that she needs care, but it is a question how well she is cared for.
They keep saying work is good for her and yet she is just a mechanical ghost on stage, lip synching and barely doing much but compensating with the dancers and technology.
These grueling tours and stress can’t be healthy for her. People without mental health issues become exhausted and have to mentally gear up to do it. Often they need rest and don’t tour again for years because of the psychological and physical toll.
She could easily have done some small tours, release a record, do small projects with rest and exploring life outside of the business that broke her.
The scale of this is insane exploitation of a woman in fragile mental health. I am a parent, and there is no way on earth I would put my mentally ill child through this much, and I would certainly not have anyone from her previous career within 1000 miles near them. No way. Britney supports her entire family and a fleet of people in very high style. If she were my child that wouldn’t happen either.
I agree FLORC. There’s plenty to dislike about Federline but I’ve never gotten a sinister vibe from him. He is what he’s always been, a simple back-up dancer that hooked a multimillionaire. Britney seems fragile but stable and in need of protection and guidance. The stink I’m smelling is coming from Jamie and his side.
Is it really surprising that in all this mess, Kevin looks like the least evil? Yes I understand many ppl see him as money grabbing but it’s basically what any mother would do if her Ex was making boatloads more money…you have to increase child support! Jamie has ALWAYS treated Britney as a cash cow and this just proves he’s playing the media game so he doesn’t really lose control of his income stream. How sad for Brit
If she’s really still this mentally ill they should get an auditor and a social worker in there. And yes give KFed more money. She clearly isn’t capable of making the big decisions for her kids. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t love them but clearly she’s not able to be a custodial parent.
This just seems like Jamie trying to reframe the child support story so it’s Britney vs. Kevin and not Jamie vs. Kevin.
Yup.
There is something very fishy going on. One advice daddy Speard, you do not people looking into Brit’s finances because we might discover Ked is not the only one trying to take advantage of her.
Every time I see it written, I can’t help but think her tour is called “Piece of Meat”
Yeah, she should prob stay under his control and he should definitely have a scrupulous individual lined up to take over for him when he’s gone.
I’ve always felt sorry for her. Pushed to stardom at such a young age, having access to many things a teenager doesn’t typically have access to, and having very poor guidance from her parents really didn’t help. But she clearly had mental issues in 2007-8 that came to the forefront and she was being taken advantage of by that shady guy, I can’t remember his name right now, Sam something… He basically isolated Britney from her family and from what I remember was basically drugging her and controlling her which is also what led to her breakdown. I remember Britney’s family basically had to rip her away from Sam, she was so far gone into his grips and they had to demand the psychiatric hold just to get her away from him. She seems to be the kind of naive person who doesn’t recognize shady and manipulating people, Sam is a huge reason of why she lost custody in the first place.
Obviously you can’t blame everything on Sam but I would hope over the past 10 years Britney has had some say over her affairs or at least some kind of voice. I have no idea if she is capable of taking care of herself but I hope one day she can be independent.
Something is up. I can see what Jamie’s doing – delaying so that Kevin is racking up the billable hours. He’ll never be able to afford waiting out til the end of the tour, Kaplan has to be incredibly expensive. He must have REALLY pissed off Jamie and Britney.
I’m more suspicious of Kevin does he even WORK???? The dad handles Brittany which can not be easy. I have friends with mental illness and they are a hot mess. I can’t imagine trying to run their lives for them. YIKES, I’d need a vacation often, lots of personal assistants, security to keep me from slapping them on those off moments. Plus a rewind button just in case none of the other stuff worked. I don’t see Jamie after her money, he’s trying to keep Brit from falling for a wolf after her money. Because once he’s gone, they will come after her in packs!!! Maybe dad’s health isn’t what it used to be….
Forgive this question, I’m coming from a place of ignorance…
Exactly what is wrong with Britney? The wild behavior ten years ago was obviously due to untreated mental illness exacerbated by recreational drug use…but let’s be real we all know and associate with many many people who have mental illness of some kind. I erroneously thought this was bipolar disorder…is it something more? I just feel like a conservatorship for a middle aged woman no longer using illegal drugs for 10 plus years seems excessive.
Counter point?? Thoughts?
Didn’t papers say she had suicidal thoughts, and also paranoia from what I remember?
I also thought she was kind of overworked and starved as a teen and young woman to maintain her sex symbol image, which can also cause ill mental health. But it gets misdiagnosed or missed in child actors or musicians.
Since they have never really let her take a break, I would imagine she has never really gotten better.
Her family seems abusive as f.
Forgive this question, I’m coming from a place of ignorance…
Exactly what is wrong with Britney? The wild behavior ten years ago was obviously due to untreated mental illness exacerbated by recreational drug use…but let’s be real we all know and associate with many many people who have mental illness of some kind that otherwise manage their money and personal lives without legal oversight. I erroneously thought this was bipolar disorder…is it something more? I just feel like a conservatorship for a middle aged woman no longer using illegal drugs for 10 plus years seems excessive.
Counter point?? Thoughts?
I remember when it all went down that it was said that besides the drugs and other traumatic experience from childhood, Britney was diagnosed with ADHD as a teen and had been on medication for it since then. She wasn’t taking her medicine the way she was supposed to which led to some of her erratic behavior and bad choices.
The breakdown could have happened to anyone of us who are dealing with issues from our childhood, as adults. She just had her breakdown in public.
I also think that her breakdown had something to do with childhood issues (one being sexually abused by her uncle). Who knows how the family dealt with that, if she even got help living in a small religious town?
I’ve also heard that Justin was abusive and jealous of her success, but that’s just a rumor.
Everybody involved in this situation beyond the kids and even Britney, to some extent, just strike me as such repulsive human beings, tbh.
Yeah, so I think they should take it to court and shine a light on the whole situation. What is wrong with doing that? Honest people surely have nothing to hide.
*eye roll*
The weird thing is that Kevin has every right to see Brit’s financials because he has custody. It’s actually strange this has never happened before. Legally he can take her to court to look at their support agreement once a year, and certainly if he knows her financial situation has changed.
The way I see it, at least Kevin has a legit reason for wanting money, as he has custody of their kids. I can’t say that for everyone else who is living off of her.
IMO, the best thing for Brit would be to invest her money and let her retire with an allowance from the interest income. Let her retire and open a dance school for kids or something, spend time with her boys.
I think the routine of the residency, with an occasional tour, has been good for Britney. She looks happy and healthy and her boys also look happy and healthy when they are with her. Unfortunately, this situation looks like it will be messy so I hope she will not backslide. Her well-being needs to be taken into account as well as that of her boys.
I think Kevin should be given an increase, depending on Britney’s actual income, but should also be reminded that child support is not meant to be his sole source of income. If there are outright abuses of the child support, such as paying child support to Shar, then that needs to be addressed. There will always be things that JJ and SP will have, such as cars and college educations paid for, that Kevin and his wife may not be able to afford. That’s just life in a blended family. So Britney shouldn’t be responsible for total equality, but, as her income changes, so should the child support agreement.
Oh man this is messy. I just hope Britney, her handlers, Federline and the kids are all happy in the end, whatever happens… sounds like a whole bunch of dysfunction and family politics with far too much money and shady characters. She seems really hardworking but latest dancing videos and last few interviews, something is not quite right?! Like too much medication? It sounds super trivial but I love watching dance and Britney’s focus now compared to what it was before is soooo different (not the disastrous stuff a few years ago but even now with her latest Vegas show) it’s like she looks great and hits the marks but can’t connect the intent with the action?