Free Britney: How does her conservatorship work, and why hasn’t it ended?

When Britney Spears, who turns 40 this year, speaks to a Los Angeles judge at her own request on Wednesday, she'll do it 13 years into a court-enforced conservatorship that has exercised vast control of her life and money. But what is a conservatorship, exactly?

Here's a look at how conservatorships operate, what's unusual about hers, and why the cry to "free Britney" keeps getting louder.

The basics of Britney Spears’ conservatorship







Like all California conservatorships, hers is subject to annual accountings and reviews from a court investigator.


Supporters of the FreeBritney movement rally in support of musician Britney Spears following a conservatorship court hearing in Los Angeles, California on April 27, 2021. - Britney Spears has requested to speak in court in the legal battle over her f

Timeline of legal events in Britney Spears’ conservatorship

In 2007 and 2008, shortly after she became a mother, Britney began to have very public mental struggles, with media outlets obsessed over each moment. Hordes of paparazzi aggressively followed her every time she left her house.


Jamie has been a co-conservator of his daughter since that day in 2008. From then until 2019, her father had power over her life choices, and he and attorney Andrew Wallet controlled her money.

In 2019 Britney's father stepped down from his role as her personal conservator due to health issues and a professional conservator was temporarily put in his place.

Now, he has financial control only and must share that role with the Bessemer Trust, an estate-management firm. Jodi Montgomery, a court-appointed professional, now acts as conservator over her personal matters.

In August 2020, Britney’s legal team advocated to have Montgomery remain as her personal conservator and have the Bessemer Trust Company be named the conservator of her estate. Then in December, the judge extended Montgomery's temporary role until September 2021.





Why hasn’t Britney Spears’ conservatorship ended?



Even with required secrecy, it's usually no mystery why someone must stay in a conservatorship, says Sarah Wentz, an attorney who specializes in estates. "Courts don’t just impose these on people," she says. They’re most commonly in situations with something dramatic like a traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's or dementia."


RELATED: Kevin Federline’s attorney says concerns about Britney Spears’ conservatorship not ‘founded in actuality’

Why are so many calling to "Free Britney?"

Fans who dote on Britney Spears' social media posts and public statements, trying to decipher her every utterance, dance move or shared meme, have increasingly coalesced into a movement after becoming convinced she was being controlled unfairly. Key were two women who in 2017 turned their hobby of picking apart Spears’ Instagram posts into a podcast, " Britney's ‘Gram." It would help birth the hashtag #FreeBritney.



FOX Television Station’s Stephanie Weaver and The Associated Press contributed to this report