THERE were no more of the heated arguments or dueling court filings of the past few months, no more tearful testimony or angry accusations. For one day at least, everyone surrounding Britney Spears agreed. She needed to be freed. Most important among them was Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny, who at a hearing Friday terminated the conservatorship that controlled the pop singer’s life and money for nearly 14 years. Spears did not attend the 30-minute hearing that was almost anti-climactic after the courtroom drama of recent proceedings, in which Spears demanded first the ouster of her father from power over her, then the removal of the legal shackles on her life. It felt almost like a formality. The celebration that followed was plenty dramatic, though. “Best day ever … praise the Lord … can I get an Amen???” Spears said on Twitter and Instagram minutes after the ruling. Jubilation erupted outside the courthouse, with fans cheering and shouting after the decision was announced. The crowd chanted “Britney! Britney! Britney!” and fans sang and danced to Spears’ song “Stronger.” The decision capped a stunning odyssey that saw Spears publicly demand the end of the conservatorship, hire her own attorney, have her father removed from power and finally win the freedom to make her own medical, financial and personal decisions for the first time since 2008. “We have a safety net in place for Britney both on the personal side and on the financial side,” her attorney Mathew Rosengart said outside the courthouse. “But Britney, as of today, is a free woman and she’s an independent woman. And the rest, with her support system, will be up to Britney.” Jodi Montgomery, the court-appointed conservator who oversaw the singer’s life and medical decisions starting in 2019, developed a care plan with her therapists and doctors to guide Spears into the aftermath. “There is no reason Ms. Spears can’t lead a safe, happy, fulfilling life after this conservatorship,” Montgomery’s attorney, Lauriann Wright, said at the hearing. Penny’s decision came with remarkably few caveats. She gave no orders that Spears should undergo mental evaluations first, something legal experts had assumed would be part of the conservatorship’s endgame. The judge said California law did not require her to order further evaluation of Spears if no one requested it. The judge kept a small part of the conservatorship temporarily in place so that the singer’s money can be moved around in the coming months as financial power is transferred back to her. California law says a conservatorship, called a guardianship in some states, is justified for a “person who is unable to provide properly for his or her personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter,” or for someone who is “substantially unable to manage his or her own financial resources or resist fraud or undue influence.”(SD-Agencies)
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