Celebrity Lawyer Weighs in on Britney Spears’ Conservatorship
[Source: Reuters]
Celebrity Lawyer Christopher C. Melcher Weighs in on Britney Spears’ Conservatorship on Reuters.
Britney Spears did not hold back at her virtual testimony on Wednesday, where she spoke out about her father’s legal control over her life. The pop star told a Los Angeles judge that she wants the controversial 13-year-long conservatorship to end, adding at one point, “I just want my life back.”
“Certainly now, we know what she wants. Britney was as clear as can be that she does not want this conservatorship to continue. It’s beyond what we thought the problem was about removing her Dad. She wants the whole thing ended. I think the court’s going to have to take this seriously, that I’m sure there’s going to be further proceedings. There’s a lot of pressure on the court to justify now why this conservatorship is needed,’ states top family law attorney Christopher C. Melcher of Walzer Melcher LLP, which is ranked as one of the best family law firms in California.
In an emotional statement, the 39-year-old said she believed the conservatorship was abusive, adding, “I’m not here to be anyone’s slave. I’m traumatized, I’m not happy, I can’t sleep, and I’m so angry, and I cry every day.”
Her remarks marked her first public statements about the court-approved legal arrangement, which was first put in place in 2008 when she suffered a mental health breakdown.
“She is absolutely being controlled. But the concept was, is it was for her own protection. The question is whether whatever was going on with her 13 years ago is still going on with her today, and is a conservatorship required at all over her? And if so, could it be limited so it’s not as intrusive on her life? Can’t we remove her dad as the conservator to put somebody in place that she’d be happy with? So those are all questions that the court’s going to be looking at,” states celebrity lawyer Christopher C. Melcher.
Outside the courthouse, fans gathered in solidarity with Spears, saying her career had been stripped from her under the conservatorship.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny said a formal petition for the conservatorship’s termination needed to be submitted to the court before she could take any action. Penny praised Spears for speaking out saying, “I just want to commend you again for really stepping forward and stepping out to have your thoughts heard.”
“There’s going to be a lot of dissection of her statement. This is what this future hearing will deal with is, did all these things happen? Were any of these consented to? Did she understand this? Was it really put on her by the conservator or not? If so, what were the reasons? All of that would be done in a pretty far-reaching hearing. I don’t think that that’s going to any time soon because there’s this initial question of when is she going to file the petition to remove the conservator? Then is she going to be evaluated? So I could see this potentially going into next year,” said celebrity divorce lawyer Christopher C. Melcher.
The former teen phenomenon said she wanted to get married again and have another baby, but she said she’s been prevented from removing her birth control device. Last year, Spears began the legal process to remove her father, Jamie Spears, from handling her personal affairs, ranging from her medical care to her finances. Jamie Spears said in a statement read out by his attorney on Wednesday that he was ” … sorry to see his daughter suffer and in so much pain.”
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