On Wednesday, mega pop star Britany Spears asked a judge in Los Angeles to release her from a 13-year legal stricture she said has plunged her into a deep depression, saying, “I cry every day.”
Spears’ father, James, was granted a conservatorship in 2008, citing concerns about her mental health and alleged substance abuse after a series of public incidents in 2007. It granted him legal authority over his daughter, then 26, and her massive estate.
Speaking during a virtual court appearance Wednesday, Britney Spears told the judge, “I need your help.” She said her father and lawyers have blocked ready access to her tens of millions of dollars and held steady control over much of her professional and personal life. This, even as she continued to perform and “make a living for so many people, and pay so many people,” she said.
UVA Today talked with Naomi Cahn, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Law and Nancy L. Buc 1969 Research Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. The director of the Law School’s Family Law Center shared her expertise about conservatorships, Spears’ situation and what could come next in the legal battle.
Q. Can you explain what a conservatorship is?
A. In general, someone is placed under a conservatorship when that person is unable to meet their own critical needs for health and self-care. A conservatorship requires a court proceeding, with a showing that the conservatorship is warranted.
Q. How are they typically used?
A. They’re often used when, for example, adult protective services goes in and finds someone unable to manage their own financial or personal affairs, or if someone is in a coma, or when someone generally has some serious illness or injury and is unable at that particular point to manage their own financial or personal matters. There might be a conservatorship for a minor as well.

Naomi Cahn is the Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Law and director of UVA’s Family Law Center. (Contributed photo)
Q. How common are conservatorships in the United States and do they vary from state to state?
A. The standards absolutely vary from state to state. While the precise number of conservatorships in the U.S. is unclear, there are estimates of more than 1 million.
People can make plans for their own incapacity by establishing powers of attorney for financial or health care issues. That’s something that gives them more control over things, rather than a conservator system, which is imposed on a person through a court proceeding.