Britney Spears & Conservatorship Abuse

I’m Mike Hackard at Hackard Law. We litigate estate, trust and elder financial abuse cases throughout California.

After 13 years, Britney Spears is finally escaping a conservatorship that placed severe constraints on her finances and personal life. Two weeks ago, her father, Jamie Spears, the court-appointed conservator, filed a petition to terminate the arrangement in Los Angeles Superior Court. And next week additional hearings will likely bring Spears that much closer to full independence.

The Britney Spears story is positive news for critics of the conservatorship industry, and now it needs to become an inflection point. Both in California and across America, there are countless victims who suffer at the hands of predatory conservators and guardians. But they’re not celebrities, and they rarely get any media coverage.

A new BuzzFeed investigative report by journalists Heidi Blake and Katie J.M. Baker lays out in extensive detail story after story of conservatorship abuse of dependent adults. It’s not only the elderly who are victims – predatory conservators exploit, embezzle and defraud the defenseless. Many times the reasons for placing a person under conservatorship are unfounded in the first place.

So, we can take heart that Britney Spears is breaking free. Now is the moment to reform a corrupt and abusive guardianship industry that preys on the most vulnerable among us. Their freedom is at stake.

Hackard Law: Attorneys Making a Difference