Britney Spears Freed From Conservatorship by Judge

(Bloomberg) -- Britney Spears is free to make her own decisions again, after a judge ended a conservatorship that had allowed her father and the courts to control the pop-star’s life and finances for almost 14 years.

Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny in Los Angeles dissolved the conservatorship Friday. She already cut off Spears’ father, James Spears, from the legal agreement in September.

The legal arrangement has cast a shadow over Spears’ life for more than a decade, restricting her from having control over her $60 million estate and from making decisions about her life, body and children. Spears was put under the conservatorship following behavior that sparked headlines and turmoil in her personal life. The pop star’s predicament has spawned a global #FreeBritney movement, which sparked three documentaries and renewed media attention.

In a post on Twitter Friday, shortly after the judge’s ruling, Spears said it’s the ``Best day ever… praise the Lord.’’

Read More: Fight to Free Britney Spears Highlights ‘Toxic’ Side of Conservatorship

In an emotional speech at a hearing in June, Spears asked a judge in June to dissolve the conservatorship calling it “abusive.” In September, a judge suspended her father from the conservatorship.

It was unclear how Spears, who is now 39, felt about the conservatorship until this year when she came before a judge in June asking to dissolve the conservatorship. In two compelling speeches made in court, Spears described the conservatorship as "abusive" and doing "way more harm than good." Her decision to speak against the legal agreement, as well as the high-profile Netflix documentary "Britney vs. Spears" released just a day before Penny made her first ruling in September, has since placed Spears squarely back into the spotlight after years of largely remaining hidden from the public eye.

Penny sided with Spears at that hearing in September, suspending her father from the conservatorship that he has had a majority stake in controlling since it was arranged in 2008. Penny said the "toxic environment" necessitated her decision. John Zabel, an accountant whom Britney Spears and her attorney selected, is now overseeing her finances.

Despite Friday's ruling in Spears’s favor, regaining control over her finances will still take months to unravel and organize. She will likely hire financial managers, attorneys and assistants to help regain that control and any decisions they make will be subject to her approval, the Associated Press reported, an oversight she did not previously have under the legal agreement.

Jodi Montgomery, who has been part of the singer's conservatorship team since 2019 reportedly has developed a care plan with therapists and doctors to guide Spears through the end of the agreement, according to the Associated Press.

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