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Jamie Spears files to end daughter Britney's conservatorship

The pop star's father has been overseeing her financial life since 2008, and vocal fans want the singer to control her own money and decisions.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read
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Pop singer Britney Spears might soon be free of her 13-year conservatorship.

 Getty Images

Britney Spears' father, Jamie Spears, filed a petition to end the controversial conservatorship that has been in place for 13 years, NBC News reported on Tuesday. The petition encourages the Los Angeles Superior Court to consider whether the arrangement is needed at all, saying the singer's circumstances have changed "to such an extent that grounds for establishment of a conservatorship may no longer exist."

"As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter," the filing reads, according to CNN. "If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance."

Representatives for Britney Spears and for Jamie Spears didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Britney Spears' conservatorship has been making news since it began in 2008 but drew greater attention when a Spears-focused episode of the documentary series The New York Times Presents debuted on Feb. 5. Fans, often using the hashtag #FreeBritney, have been calling for the singer's father to step out of her life.

Although Spears is a 39-year-old mother of two, the internationally famous pop star hasn't been allowed to handle her own finances since her father was appointed her conservator back in 2008. He had also largely controlled his daughter's personal and medical care until Jodi Montgomery took over on a temporary basis in 2019.

Spears herself emotionally requested the removal of her father from the arrangement at a June court hearing, calling the conservatorship "abusive" and saying it was doing her more harm than good. She also said that she wasn't allowed to remove her birth-control device under the conservatorship, preventing her from having more children.

Back in July, Spears' attorney, Mathew S. Rosengart, filed a separate petition to have Jamie Spears removed from the conservatorship. That document asked that Jason Rubin, a California certified public accountant, be named conservatory of Spears' multi-million-dollar estate.

As recently as July 1, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny ruled that the singer's father would remain in his role. NBC reports that Penny was expected to rule on Rosengart's new petition during a hearing on Sept. 29.

Not all of Britney Spears' supporters were ready to rejoice just yet.

"Don't play with my heart!" wrote one Twitter user.

But some had hope this could mean a restart for the singer.

Wrote one, "Britney Spears has been performing in extremely successful shows in Las Vegas over the past four years. She deserves her own life."