Cara Cunningham said it best when she cried out in her 2007 viral video, “Leave Britney alone!” which caused an outpour of media attention. Some thought Cunningham’s behavior was wild and outlandish but we would find out years later that she wasn’t so off-base.
And unless you have been living under a rock, the world has seen Britney Spears struggles with relationships, substance abuse, custody of her children, and a myriad of other issues that have been reported by the media and scrutinized by the public.
In hindsight, Cunningham’s pleas for Spears’ humanity were warranted and not far-fetched. Spears was placed into a conservatorship the following year.
On June 24, Spears spoke publicly to the courtroom for the first time, detailing an 13 year long abusive court mandated conservatorship she has been living through that has stripped her of rights to privacy, her boyfriend, her family and even her own body. Spears said, “I want changes, and I want changes going forward. I deserve changes. I was told I have to sit down and be evaluated, again, if I want to end the conservatorship. […] I’ve done more than enough. I don’t feel like I should even be in room with anyone to offend me by trying to question my capacity of intelligence, whether I need to be in this stupid conservatorship or not. I’ve done more than enough.”
Conservatorships are court-sanctioned documents rendering people helpless and in need of assistance in managing their livelihoods. They are meant to offer protection from oneself if the courts deems the person incompetent. In 2015, Forbes estimated that 1.5 million adults were living under a guardianship. However, national statistics about conservatorships are difficult to maintain. To begin with, states vary with legal definitions of conservatorships and guardianships. This makes it difficult to quantify the number of people living under conservatorships. Furthermore, the court systems are not held accountable.
On July 14th, the court granted Spears her own attorney after her court appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham III, petitioned to resign from the case. Celebrity attorney Matthew Rosengart will represent Britney Spears in all further court proceedings.
On May 24th, 2021, ABC10 premiered a five-part series about conservatorships in California called “Price of Care: Investigating California Conservatorships,”. In this series, investigative reporter Andie Judson delves into the $13-billion-dollar industry of conservatorships by examining the Sacramento Probate courts.
The report explains how the elderly population is the main target of conservatorships, and also the disabled community is at high risk. It is through these court-sanctioned documents that they are being exploited. Judson unearths a system of fiduciaries and attorneys that manipulate the probate laws and drains people of their assets and civil rights.
The investigation itself was started because of the #FreeBritney movement; which seeks to liberate Britney Spears from her conservatorship.
The Probate Courts and their History of Entrapment and Abuse of Vulnerable Populations
Amongst the chaos, little did I know that Britney Spears and I shared the hallways of the probate court, housed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles.
In February of 2017, I ended a long and arduous legal battle trying to seek accountability from my former trustee and other administrators. I told the judge presiding over my case that I had reached an en passé; and I could no longer carry my lawsuit on my own. I knew I accrued over $60,000 in legal expenses which I was legally obligated to pay.
My disability is the result of malpractice during my birth. The doctors insisted on my mom having me naturally, but after hours of labor, both of us almost died. I began losing oxygen and drowning in fluid, so my mother’s doctor performed an emergency c-section and I was rushed to an incubator. This incident resulted in my cerebral palsy.
I stopped developing properly after 8 months. My parents were at a loss over my physical development, or lack thereof, for the first several years of my life. I could no longer bring a bottle to my mouth or hold myself upright. I crawled up until the age of 4 and routinely attended physical therapy.
My parents blamed my disability on themselves. They did not make the connection between my disability and my traumatic birthday – at least, not until the doctor who performed the surgery that allowed me to walk told them. I was five years old, and the statue of limitation for malpractice would expire in two years.
The terms of my trust were never properly explained, as my family was assured that everything was going as planned according to the law and institutional policy. The attorney who settled my case and the administrators of my Special Needs Trust (SNT) purchased a home with my funds and created for me what I felt was a sense of security.
My parents trusted the process and the people involved in the legal proceedings, believing I was set for life. However, in my mid 20s, I would find out otherwise.
To my horror, I found that the professionals administering my SNT were defrauding my account. The people who I trusted for 17 years were misusing my funds through biannual accountings set forth by the terms of my SNT and approved by the courts.
I found out after arranging a meeting with the people managing my trust. Originally, we were supposed to discuss how to use my resources for my independence. The meeting took a strange turn after an attorney I invited started probing.
The meeting sent me on an investigation to learn how my trust operates. In looking through my paperwork, I first discovered that the attorney who settled my malpractice case somehow cheated me out of a $2,500 annuity which I would have started receiving at the age of 21.
This is also when I first learned about my accountings. I learned that I was paying two companies to “manage” my finances, on top of their attorney’s fees to have every accounting filed and settled in probate court. I was paying over $10,000 dollars every two years to maintain my SNT, when I should have been paying half – or less – of the costs. They were manipulating the probate courts and laws to financially exploit my livelihood.
I learned all of this the hard way; I did most of my own research, spoke with dozens of attorneys, and tried to fight a lawsuit on my own. However, it was too late to take action against court approved documentation. The longer one is buried in probate court, the more difficult it is to escape. What links me to Spears is that we have legal documents governing our finances and are monitored by the probate court. Our documents are different, but the process is one in the same.
Why the Probate Courts are Often More Harmful than Helpful to the Disabled Community
Certified Elder Law Attorney Martha Patterson specializes in probate matters. Her law firm is based in Los Angeles, and has been involved in a number of cases – including joining forces with Spears’ former court-appointed attorney to represent the children of Casey Kasem.
“Probate technically is the process for administering wills and taking care of estates. The Probate division in Courts has always handled guardianships for a minor when a person dies, but in recent times, it also handles guardianships for minors,” Patterson said.
Probate is primarily used at the end of one’s life. Wills and trusts are dispersed to the families of typically wealthy individuals usually 85 years or older according to experts. As a result, many lawyers stress to stay out of probate court for as long as possible.
“The Guardianship/Conservatorship of adults has always been part of the “probate system” but 40 years ago it was rare that someone ended up in court and being conserved. Why? Forty years ago, divorce was not as common and families took care of each other and were much less fractured,” said Patterson.
The probate system is supposed to protect people from fraud, neglect, and themselves. Families with money often create trust funds to fortify their inheritance. Assets of people with disabilities are also protected by the probate courts. Conservatorships, on the other hand, are extremely restrictive.
“A Conservatorship takes away a person’s rights. Their right to contract, to make decisions regarding their health and where they live, their right to vote and right to Guns. Special Needs Trusts are designed so money can be held for the benefit of someone who needs public assistance,” says Patterson.
Conservatorships are good on paper; however, power and money seems to corrupt people in the worst ways possible.
“Unfortunately the courts are being used more and more often to isolate, medicate and steal the estate. Sadly the system has been corrupted because there is a lot of money to be made off people like Brittany Spears. Her dad is being paid $15,000 a month to be her Conservator. Her Court appointed attorney is earning a handsome fee, all the attorneys representing her dad are also being paid from her estate,” said Patterson.
I did not know how much say I had over my affairs until I was running low on funds and it was legally too late for me to officially object to a number of accountings already approved. My former trustee and other administrators led my family and I to believe that we did not have much power. Their tactics in management are predatory and abusive.
Truth be told, I ended the lawsuit before I had to start selling physical assets – yet, I left with a grim realization of how people use judicial courts to benefit from others. Furthermore, I learned that these same people manipulated my trust and violated me to my core.
I have since hired people I trust; though, I no longer have a financial security net. It is costing me more to maintain a trust account than it would be if I was managing my own affairs. However, if I want to terminate my trust, I must satisfy my Medi-Cal lien. My state insurance keeps track of my medical expenses, usually paid back at the end of one’s life or if one is seeking to end their SNT. The expenses are costly for a queer disabled person of color like myself, which means the state of California would target my home. If I were to pass away tomorrow, then my family would be left with nothing.
Spears was placed into a conservatorship after having a public meltdown, and her father, Jamie Spears, was conservator for years to follow. According to Patterson, “Britney Spears’ situation is complicated. If she were an average person, the court would not have ever granted the Conservatorship and she would be in the revolving door of our broken mental health system that has its own Conservatorships […]” Patterson said.
Spears’ $60 million dollar estate keeps her in the tight grips of the probate system. In other words, her riches are to be protected and monitored. Someone without a large estate would probably end up homeless and or an institution.
“If she wanted to contest the Conservatorship she would need to have at least one very highly qualified physician state that she was no longer subject to undue influence and able to make her own decisions. It is a very high standard,” Patterson said.
A standard Patterson knows very well, as she has successfully contested two Conservatorships.
“Watching the documentary, one issue that has always bothered me is that when a person is facing being conserved, they can not hire an attorney unless they can show that they are competent,” said Patterson. Britney made attempts to hire her own representation, which she was denied the first time around according to “Framing Britney Spears.”
“This seems like a violation of Civil Rights, and I think if this one thing could be changed, there would be fewer situations where a person ended up wrongfully conserved. […] Hopefully the new attorney will be filing a petition to terminate the conservatorship,” said Patterson.
Spears’s courtroom address stunned many with her shocking and heartbreaking statements detailing the conditions under which she has been living. She explained her struggle through her legal battle; calling out her abusive father, the court’s complacency, and the fact that everyone is profiting from her work and how she can not hire her own attorney.
She listed her accolades as proof of her competency and reminded the court of her greatness. Spears expressed her anger, especially against her father. She compared her situation to slavery; illuminating the exploitation she has endured. Ultimately, she asked the judge to terminate her conservatorship and give back her freedom.
Spears states, “I just want my life back. And it’s been 13 years. And it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my own money.”
As for me, I am ready to share and heal from my experience. I hope to awaken people to their situation before it’s too late for them. I’m here to remind you that even in legal proceedings designed to “protect” you, when people involved are making too much money, it can become more focused on profiting and less about making a difference in the lives of the vulnerable people at risk of injustice.
Both Britney Spears and I remain in the probate courts until the laws catch up with our civil rights; until disabled people are deemed worthy of handling their own wealth without losing their healthcare, and until statute of limitations no longer hinder people from obtaining justice.
