A Breakdown of Britney Spears's 13-Year Conservatorship Battle and How It Ended

After being Britney's manager since the early 1990s, Larry Rudolph announced he was resigning in a letter to Jamie Spears and Jodi Montgomery. "It has been over 2 1/2 years since Britney and I last communicated, at which time she informed me she wanted to take an indefinite work hiatus," he said, per Deadline. "Earlier today, I became aware that Britney had been voicing her intention to officially retire. As her manager, I believe it is in Britney's best interest for me to resign from her team as my professional services are no longer needed."

Following Rudolph's resignation, Britney's lawyer, Samuel Ingham III, filed court documents asking to be dismissed as her counsel. "Samuel D. Ingham III hereby resigns as court-appointed counsel for Britney Jean Spears, conservatee, effective upon the appointment of new court-appointed counsel," the court filings read, according to Variety.

Britney's conservator, Montgomery, released a statement to People at the time saying she had no plans of stepping down as the singer's conservator. "She remains committed to steadfastly supporting Ms. Spears in every way she can within the scope of her duties as a conservator of the person," Montgomery's lawyer, Wright, said in a statement. "Ms. Spears as recently as yesterday has asked Ms. Montgomery to continue to serve. Ms. Montgomery will continue to serve as a conservator for as long as Ms. Spears and the Court desire her to do so."

A day later, People reported that Britney's mother Lynne Spears filed a petition for permission for the singer to hire her own lawyer. "Her capacity is certainly different today than it was in 2008, and Conservatee should no longer be held to the 2008 standard, whereby she was found to 'not have the capacity to retain counsel,'" the filing read.

During another court hearing, a judge granted Britney permission to hire her own lawyer following Ingham III's exit. The singer's new lawyer was Mathew Rosengart, who's previously represented stars like Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Keanu Reeves.

"Pursuant to my statement in open court on June 23, 2021, my rights, and my desire to end the above-referenced conservatorship as to my father, Jamie P. Spears, it is my desire to choose and retain my own counsel, at Greenberg, Traurig, LLP as set forth above," Britney stated in legal documents, per Variety.

In her testimony, Britney also accused her father of abusing his power as her conservator. "I'm here to get rid of my dad and charge him with conservatorship abuse," she told the court. "This conservatorship has allowed my dad to ruin my life."

Following the hearing, Britney celebrated her new conservatorship lawyer by posting a video of herself horseback riding and doing cartwheels on Instagram. "Coming along, folks ... coming along 🖕🏻!!!!!" she captioned it. "New with real representation today ... I feel GRATITUDE and BLESSED !!!! Thank you to my fans who are supporting me ... You have no idea what it means to me be supported by such awesome fans !!!! God bless you all !!!!!" Her then-boyfriend (now soon-to-be ex-husband), Sam Asghari, expressed similar sentiments when he responded in the comments, writing, "Internet is about to explode #freebritney."

In a lengthy Instagram post, the singer called out people who were publicly supporting her but never showed support behind closed doors. "There's nothing worse than when the people closest to you who never showed up for you post things in regard to your situation whatever it may be and speak righteously for support," she wrote. "How dare you make it public that NOW you CARE." Britney continued, "If you're reading this and you know who you are . . . and you actually have the nerve to say anything about my situation just to save face for yourself publicly. . . . Please stop with the righteous approach."

In a follow-up post, Britney spoke out about sister Jamie Lynn, adding that she wasn't happy that the latter performed a remix of her songs at Radio Disney Music Awards in 2017. "I don't like that my sister showed up at an awards show and performed MY SONGS to remixes !!!!! My so-called support system hurt me deeply !!!!" Though Britney noted that "this conservatorship killed my dreams," she is still holding on to hope. "People try to kill hope because hope is one of the most vulnerable and fragile things there is !!!! I'm gonna go read a mother f*cking fairy tale now !!!!" She ended her post by saying, "If you don't want to see my precious ass dancing in my living room or it's not up to your standards ... go read a f*cking book 📕 !!!!!"

Nearly a month after Britney first broke her silence about the conservatorship, The New York Times reported that her lawyer, Rosengart, filed to replace Jamie Spears with certified public accountant Jason Rubin. According to CNBC, Rubin was a principal at Certified Strategies, which is a firm that specializes in estate financial management, elder financial abuse investigation, investment fraud investigation, and securities litigation.

This move came fewer than two weeks after Rosengart was appointed Britney's lawyer, taking over for court-appointed lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III. "There might well come a time when the court will be called upon to consider whether the conservatorship should be terminated in its entirety and whether — in addition to stripping his daughter of her dignity, autonomy and certain fundamental liberties — Mr. Spears is also guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance warranting the imposition of surcharges, damages or other legal action against him," Rosengart wrote in the filing at the time, per Reuters.

Ahead of Britney's Sept. 29, 2021, hearing, Rosengart filed court documents for "the immediate suspension" of Jamie as her conservator. "Although a two-month wait for a hearing on the Petition may not seem significant in the context of 13 years, Ms. Spears should not be forced to continue to feel traumatized, lose sleep, and suffer further," the court document stated, according to People. "Every day matters." However, Variety later reported that the request was denied on Aug. 9, 2021.

Nearly a month after agreeing to step down as her conservator, Britney's father, Jamie, unexpectedly filed a petition to end her 13-year conservatorship on Sept. 7, 2021, CNN reported. "Recent events related to this conservatorship have called into question whether circumstances have changed to such an extent that grounds for establishment of a conservatorship may no longer exist," the filing stated, according to documents obtained by the outlet.

"Ms. Spears has told this Court that she wants control of her life back without the safety rails of a conservatorship," the petition continued. "She wants to be able to make decisions regarding her own medical care, deciding when, where and how often to get therapy. She wants to control the money she has made from her career and spend it without supervision or oversight. She wants to be able to get married and have a baby, if she so chooses. In short, she wants to live her life as she chooses without the constraints of a conservator or court proceeding."

"As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter," the filing said. "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."

In a statement to People, Britney's attorney called the filing a "massive legal victory." "Having exposed his misconduct and improper plan to hold his daughter hostage by trying to extract a multi-million dollar settlement, Mr. Spears has now effectively surrendered. There is no settlement," Rosengart said. "To the extent Mr. Spears believes he can try to avoid accountability and justice, including sitting for a sworn deposition and answering other discovery under oath, he is incorrect and our investigation into financial mismanagement and other issues will continue."

After filing a petition to step down as conservator of his daughter's estate, Jamie was immediately suspended from Britney's conservatorship by Judge Penny. Britney's attorney then pushed to have the conservatorship completely eradicated. "The conservatorship can and should be wound up and terminated promptly — ideally this fall," Rosengart stated during a hearing, per The Guardian.

Following his suspension, Jamie issued a statement to Variety via his attorney saying, "Mr. Spears loves his daughter Britney unconditionally. For thirteen years, he has tried to do what is in her best interests, whether as a conservator or her father. This started with agreeing to serve as her conservator when she voluntarily entered into the conservatorship. This included helping her revive her career and re-establish a relationship with her children. For anyone who has tried to help a family member dealing with mental health issues, they can appreciate the tremendous amount of daily worry and work this required. For Mr. Spears, this also meant biting his tongue and not responding to all the false, speculative, and unsubstantiated attacks on him by certain members of the public, media, or more recently, Britney's own attorney."

The statement then claimed his suspension was a "loss for Britney," adding, "Respectfully, the court was wrong to suspend Mr. Spears, put a stranger in his place to manage Britney's estate, and extend the very conservatorship that Britney begged the court to terminate earlier this summer. Again, it was Mr. Spears who took the initiative to file the petition to terminate the conservatorship when neither Britney's former court-appointed counsel nor her new privately-retained attorney would do so. It was Mr. Spears who asked the court at yesterday's hearing to immediately terminate the conservatorship while Britney's own attorney argued against it. Despite the suspension, Mr. Spears will continue to look out for the best interests of his daughter and work in good faith towards a positive resolution of all matters."

Asghari shared his excitement about Jamie's suspension on his Instagram Story, writing, "Free Britney! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!" In a follow-up post, he wrote of his then-fiancée, "She did this. Her fan base is called the army for a reason." Britney seemingly reacted to the news on her Instagram by sharing a video of her flying a plane with the caption, "On cloud 9 right now."

In a petition filed on Nov. 1, 2021, Lynne requested more than $650,000 from Britney's estate to pay her attorneys for their involvement in the conservatorship case, People reported.

The following day, Britney called out her mom in a now-deleted Instagram post, writing, "Pssss my dad may have started the conservatorship 13 years ago ... but what people don't know is that my mom is the one who gave him the idea !!!!" She added, "She secretly ruined my life."

After 13 years, Judge Penny ruled to terminate Britney's conservatorship once and for all. "The conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required," Judge Penny declared, per The New York Times. She also said Britney's estate conservator would continue working to help settle any ongoing financial concerns related to her case. The hearing marked the most pivotal and anticipated moment of the singer's long-standing legal battle for her freedom.