Britney Spears father loses appeal for continued full conservatory rights

A court has freed Britney Spears from under her father after rejecting his request for full conservatory rights over her estate and finances.

Jamie Spears has held complete conservatory rights over his daughter’s estate and finances since 2008. However, the new ruling on Thursday, 11 February 2021 means that he will now share the rights with private trust company Bessemer Trust.

In 2018, Britney Spears had begun proceedings to limit her father’s control over her estate. She was quoted as saying she was afraid of him and his hold over her life. This gave rise to a movement to terminate the conservatorship, dubbed #FreeBritney.

Several celebrities like Cher, Paris Hilton, and Miley Cyrus, as well as the nonprofit organization the American Civil Liberties Union showed their support for the artist.

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Meanwhile, Jamie had argued against the shared conservatorship. He had been given the right over her estate after her several issues with drugs and mental breakdown in the late 2000s.

As part of the new ruling, the court instructed Jamie Spears and Bessemer Trust to work together on a plan on how to manage the singer’s estate.

Speaking about the ruling on Britney Spears conservatory rights, Babs Gray, host of the BritneyGram podcast, told the BBC outside the court: “It hasn’t changed anything much today… I don’t think a lot of forward movement will happen until Britney’s lawyer actually files to get her out of the conservatorship.”

Since the proceedings began in 2018, Britney Spears has put all live performances on hold until she is out of the conservatorship programme’s clutches. In February 2021, a documentary that chronicles the conservatorship, titled Framing Britney Spears, premiered on FX.