Britney Spears and Jason Trawick are engaged. Britney seems happy about it, and Jason seems… well, who knows? He plays it all close to the vest. I want to think Jason is a nice guy, a good guy, a dude who will help keep Britney on a good path. But we don’t really know, do we? Throughout Britney’s now years-long conservatorship, she’s kept her nose clean for the most part, although there have been some moments, some weeks, some months, some incidents where Britney seems particularly out-of-it, lethargic, or just… “off”. Whenever that happens, I always wonder what medication she’s on, and whether her dosages are being properly looked after. It was assumed that the court would decide to end Britney’s conservatorship this year at some point, and after that, Britney would be a legal adult, capable of making her own decisions, and she and Jason would marry then. But then this happened:
Britney Spears’s father is taking an extra step in bonding with his future son-in-law. Jamie Spears is asking a court to add Jason Trawick as a co-conservator over his pop star daughter, a source confirms to PEOPLE.
Trawick will only have shared legal control over Spears’s general well being – not her finances, according to the source. In general, a conservator can make decisions over a person’s food, clothing and medical care. But Spears has plenty of personal freedom and the conservatorship is just a formality, another source previously told PEOPLE.
“This is a very unusual situation, because generally you don’t see conservatees get married,” says Jeffrey S. Cohen, an L.A. probate attorney not involved with the case. “This could be a sign that the couple’s wedding is around the corner.”
Adds Cohen: “This is probably a compromise between Britney, her father and Trawick to get the marriage off on the right foot. Obviously, her future husband needs to have a say in her well being.”
Jamie Spears has held legal control over his daughter and her multimillion-dollar fortune since Feb. 2008 after the singer suffered a psychological breakdown.
The conservatorship will be lifted only after a judge is convinced, on the advice of Spears’s doctors, that she’s healthy enough to manage her own affairs.
[From People]
On one side, I see the reasoning for this – Britney still needs constant monitoring and “handling” and it’s interesting to see that Jamie Spears is okay with sharing the responsibility with Jason. On the other side… I think this is extremely f–ked up. Either Britney is capable of being married or she’s not. Either she can make that decision by herself, as a capable, functioning adult, or she can’t. Either end of the conservatorship (and come what may) and let Britney control her own destiny (whether it be marriage, medication or motherhood) OR keep the conservatorship and don’t allow her to get married. I think it’s extremely sketchy to basically hand all of Britney’s business and personal interests over to her soon-to-be husband for him to control. Even if Jason is a good, decent man, I feel like it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
Yeah, I think they should wait to get married (when she is no longer under anyone’s conservatorship), who wants their husband to be their “caretaker”?
That poor child
I hope someone locks up the hair clippers!
I was really hoping that Britney and Jason would end up really good together – they reminded me a lot of Reese and Jim Toth. But even if this is only a formality, it outrages and scares me. Britney cannot have a healthy relationship if her husband is “in charge” of her. Is she going to be afraid to disagree with him? What if she decides she wants out of the marriage? She can’t even hire her own lawyers without permission for God’s sake!
The entire situation disgusts me. Free Britney!
i wouldnt marry anyone that CONTROLLED MY MONEY for them selves to be happy
You said it all. Very creepy and not sure how this is even legal in this day and age. Reminds me of my regency romances I love so much where you become your husband’s property and he has control of all the money. I think adults have the right to self-destruct.
The conservatorship is being SHARED. That means he can contribute to decision making but that Britney’s dad will still be able to participate as well. That’s not handing over all the power to the husband, this article is written in a misleading manner.
Things seem to be working, so why mess with it? If Jason is marrying her because he loves her, he shouldn’t care that her father still controls the business aspects.
But I also agree that if she still needs that kind of supervision, maybe she isn’t ready for marriage.
If a person is under conservatorship HOW can they get married? A marriage license is a contract, and if you aren’t legally able to speak for yourself, how can you sign a contract like that?
I kind of wonder if her and Jason are REALLY a couple, or if he is just pretending so it isn’t as obvious that she has a baby sitter.
Being handed from ownership by Dad to ownership by Husband. That just looks wrong.
It does, but who’s to say that Britney isn’t insisting on it? I mean, they’re all spending money that Britney earned, maybe she decided it was going to be at least hers in marriage.
I’m still impressed that her little sister took her money and her baby and got the hell out of H’wood! Seems a very smart move.
I thought I read somewhere that the sister was trying to make a comeback?
Jamie Lynn was rumored to have been pregnant not by her boyfriend, but by a higher up Nickelodeon exec (who is married and in his 40s), so she was paid a lot of money to leave Hollywood. A LOT. That’s the rumor, anyway. 😉 If you google Dan Schneider, you’ll find the answers you seek…lol
The Casey Aldridge dude was paid a lot of $ to take the fall as her baby daddy.
Her sister was a teen who got knocked up. She lost her career because of it and had no choice. Now, a little older, I bet she has tried to get back into the business but just no opportunities. She never had the charisma Britney did.
What charisma? Her claim to fame was being the Lolita. She can’t sing, her dance moves are wooden. I never liked her. All she ever was was a young piece of ass for grown men and boys to drool over. She’s otherwise talentless. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get to twerkin’ a little when Toxic comes on though!
How are you able to tell exactly how happy Britney is about anything since she seems so highly medicated all the time? We know you are not a fan but one does not have to be to see that Britney is being perversely controlled. Her handlers are no way letting go of this current arrangement. The new twist tells us that Jason is more than involved. And it’s creepy as fu$ck.
I agree. Also, how can you sign a marriage contract if you aren’t legally in charge of yourself?
Also…he was/is her agent. He acted as her agent for the X Factor negotiations. I think that is a bad mix, because agents are all about getting you to work more because they make money from commission (managers on the other hand try to pick the best jobs for your career, it isn’t just about money). Should she be marrying someone whose job is milking the cash cow?
I hope he wouldn’t get commission for marrying her!
You gotta love that Britney’s “people” find her balanced enough to be thrown out on a long tour, but too incapacitated to manage her own affairs. It’s a sad deal all the way around.
I think it’s sooooo CREEPY. She’s still going to be paying child support to K-Fed and she’s still not going to have any say over her own money and life. The consequences of something like that can be dire if after they marry Jason turns out to not be as honorable as he was beforehand-especially when one considers how much Britney is worth dead or alive. (I hate to sound so dramatic but that’s just my opinion.)
I agree with everything you said. There’s such a sadness about it all.
Just because she’s got other issues that require assistance to ensure her money’s okay (her Dad) and that she doesn’t screw up her meds (her husband-to-be) doesn’t mean she shouldn’t wed. It’s just formalising their current circumstances anyhow! She seems a long way down the road – just also a bit potentially unstable. It seems to work for them.
Exhibit A: Britney then Vs Britney now.
You can’t say that his role as conservator in her marriage would just be making sure she takes her meds. There are many mentally ill people out there that do not get conservatorships placed on them. That is a SERIOUS step with a lot of consequences.
Her body looks great in the first pick, reminds me of old Britney.
Conservatorships are usually in place for extreme cases, like dementia. They sound like they’re pulling her strings, not letting her have a life, holding her kids over her. And she’s just given up. In the process, she’s lost that amazing spark that made her an incredible performer. This whole thing is shady. Someone help Britney get away from these people. What happens if Britney has Jason’s child? She has no say over her own kid?
I think doubt she will get pregnant. Her dr’s probably do not recommend it with her mental state. Some people have a lot of issues post partum and she seems to be one of them.
I think it’s more shady that her father controls her finances versus a team of financial advisors. I think with her condition Jason legally needs the conservatorship to help keep her healthy and work with her doctors.
Let’s be fair, I think her father has done a really good job. HE probably has a team of financial advisers handling things — they just answer to him instead of her.
Spare me. Her father has done wonders. Britney had depleted her fortune because of her mental problems.
What if something happens Britney? Then like Michael Jackson her estate value will triple and that will just leave the kids(meaning K-fed), Jason, and the family to profit. He’d be in the best position to inherit everything if him and Britney had a child or he was able to buy off K-Fed who lets face it is dumb as a rock.
I may sound extreme but we seen these scenarios play out with MJ and Anna Nicole Smith. Money turns people into sick individuals.
It’s an unusual situation. She’s probably wanted to get married for a while and this will bring her happiness. She prob has up and down days and still needs the conservatorship. This way Jason can legally adjust her meds as needed and discuss her mental state with her dr’s as needed. Her dad wants her to be happy but knows she is not healthy or capable of making her own decisions (other than nail or shoe color) and managing her health.
Wow. I hope it turns out well for her. But I have reservations because they’ll be entering this marriage on unequal footing. Jason might be a very nice person, but it would take an extraordinary person to not take advantage of a situation like Britney’s.
The whole thing is creepy and gross. If she is ill enough to be under conservatorship, how can she be competent to make a decision to marry?
Britney is the goose that laid the golden egg. I don’t believe that she’ll be released from the conservatorship even to get married to Jason. She and Jason will be married all while the conservatorship is still in effect which can indeed happen because all that’s needed is the judge’s approval. I see that this is how they’re setting it up. Nevermind the lawsuit excuses for that’s just, well, an excuse. Britney is living someone else’s dream now instead of her own and she is being passed along from one man to the other. I don’t like to be pessimistic but I really don’t think this story will have a happy ending.
I love how people judge. Jason has been wonderful for her and gave her the stability she needs. Battling a mental illness is bad enough, but Britney being alone without love and compansionship I would have worried about. He has been good to her and for her. Without him I think the sadness would have destroyed her or led her to end up with a very questionable man — look at her previous choices. Her family loves him, so that says a lot about him.
@Jayna
If you think this situation is okay and don’t see (a)the conflict of interest, (b) abuse of the legal system, and (c)that Britney is yet again being taken advantage of with not as much regard to her mental well being as there is to her professional success then fine. To each their own. Agree to disagree.
This is so wrong. A conservatorship says that she’s incapacitated; not “moody”, not bipolar, but completely incapable of being responsible for her actions, without hope of ever being able to be held accountable.
Really, they don’t give conservatorships out like candy; you’ve got to be pretty damned out of touch with reality to be put under someone else’s control. A prisoner has more legal rights than someone under a conservatorship. (“May not do work against their will” — prisoners have legally recognized thought.)
If you were in love with someone who’d had their rights stripped like that, and you didn’t believe it was fair or just, you would fight for their rights, not fight to take over the leash.
Otherwise, if Trawick believes she’s that incapacitated, and wants to spend a lifetime taking care of her, that’s called being a guardian. If he takes her reins, he should just do it without pretending that she’s in any way his “partner”.
“A conservatorship says that she’s incapacitated; not “moody”, not bipolar, but completely incapable of being responsible for her actions, without hope of ever being able to be held accountable”
Well said!
Jason is only getting half control of her personal well being issues etc, her Dad will still control her business/finances.
When she was on the rampage she blew (and got conned out of) like $30,000,000.
Anyone know what happened to her Mom?? Weren’t they close? I’m thinking I used to see a lot of pictures of them out together.
Her mom and her are close and mom was on a lot of her tour. Britney’s mom and dad reconciled a year or two ago and have been together ever since, just haven’t remarried.
Aww. That’s nice. I just don’t buy that this is a bad thing. Maybe she wants to have another baby but sees that it may cause emotional upset for her. I could see her wanting someone like her husband to help her through something she wants badly but knows will mess with her judgement.
Creepy. That Jason dude just looks shady. Poor Brit don’t get married! You are already being controlled, don’t add another to the mix. I agree she either is or isn’t fit. The judge should decide. As for adding Jason, hell no!
I’m pretty sure this is only on the financial end of her affairs. Britney has been living her life without dad’s interference for a while except on the financial end.
‘only the financial state of her affairs’
That’s a really naive way of looking at things.
If you control someone legally and financially you control them and you aren’t an equal partner in a marriage you are a surrogate parent. End of story.
The c-ship is name only. Her dad has been in TN with Jamie Lynn. Britney does what she wants. I think the c-ship is to keep her from having to testify in the Sam lutfi case.
If Jason is co conservator they can get married in the summer and not have to wait until after the lutfi trial in September.
A conservatorship is a very big deal. You can’t do it “in name only”…you lose rights under a conservatorship. Even if her dad isn’t with her, he still has control (like power of attorney, etc.).
The fact that she still is under conservatorship shows that she still NEEDS one.
I thought the purpose of the conservatorship was to prevent her having to stand witness in court against that creepy dude who controlled her for a length of time…I don’t really know. I’m sure there are reasons beyond what we know why its all going down this way…it can’t be a bad thing…honestly she probably isn’t that stable.
Like many behavioral health conditions, a diagnosis of bipolar means that the individual will deal with it the rest of their lives. With the right medication, they can live happy, productive lives. However, like with many medications, there are side effects. And in some cases, after a period of time a medication may not work as well as previously and a new medication has to be found. However, with a lot of pyschotropic drugs, you can’t just stop taking the drug and switch to another. You have to step down the first drug and before trying another. All this is saying, that it can be a balancing act, BUT, many people who are bipolar are able to live good lives. We have a good friend who has lived with his condition for over 35 years. Stress makes things worse so his family tries to eliminate some of this from his life where they can. He is like the rest of us. He wants and values relationships in his life. My guess is that Brittany’s guardianship is still in place for several reasons. One is that if for some reason her meds fail or she decides that she doesn’t to take her meds, then the decision can made to get her back on the meds or start a new one. The other is that with current Health Information privacy laws (HIPPA), without the guardianship still in place, if she does not give her permission (which frequently happens when a person is in a manic stage), information cannot be shared about her diagnosis, treatment, etc. and she cannot be forced to take her meds. Another reason is the complexity of her financial affairs and the stress of managing them. The courts would not allow the new arrangements if they did not approve of what was being done.
I am BPD-II, I just completed a Master’s Program in Library Science, and last week I just discovered I have a (non-malignant) brain tumor which will require a day-long surgery. Double happiness!
I am surprisingly stable right now-maybe it’s just the knowledge that I have to be to get through this latest challenge. I have two sons, 10 and 12, so I don’t want to cause them distress.
I can say, though, that dealing with my everyman finances on a day-to-day basis (debt!debt!debt!) is overwhelming. It is the one thing that causes me stress consistently, and internally I feel a childish reluctance to even look at my bills, little less tidy things up.
When I was not doing so well, the fear I felt about the “wolves at the door” was profound. At that time, I would have happily handed over my modest financial affairs to someone else.
But I am not Britney Spears, in more ways than one. It is difficult for any of us to speculate what is best for her, all I know is that as someone with BPD who has two beloved boys of her own, what I want most desperately is stability and peace for myself and my boys. Even though my ex is a civil co-parent, in my case, the only person who can provide that is me. That is a huge challenge, even for a “normal” single mom.
I wish Britney the best of health, physically and mentally. That is the foundation she must have to achieve her own peace and stability. I honestly can’t contemplate (really-I get fuzzy) whether the receivership in any form fits in that picture or not.
I think doctors are really slap happy with the label bipolar disorder and quick to put people on medication. Don’t get me wrong, some people do need medication but I think steps need to be taken to make sure that it is given for the right reasons. Many of these medication side effects are not heavily researched enough and even worse is many medications have never been researched on children yet we are quick to put children on these drugs.
In Britney’s case, she was someone who needed medication. She became a public safety hazard. However, I always thought she had some major drug abuse going on for her to act like that. It’s hard to say. My biggest problem is that the conservatorship seems to be exploiting someone who is mentally ill. IMMEDIATELY after Britney got released from the hospital they were already planning new albums, guest appearances, and many other things. This conservatorship has made a lot of people a lot of money. But I’ve always been suspicious of its true purpose. Britney has become nothing more than a heavily medicated puppet.
Bipolar/manic depressives tend to self-medicate, so can definitely have drug problems.
the contrast between Britney and Lindsay is really interesting.
we rarely see Britney out and about and rampaging like Britzilla, but there is some perverse fear that she might be “used” by her family.
we often see Lindsay out and about and rampaging like Megalilo, but there’s some is some perverse fear that she might be “used” by her family.
so sad. and they used to be “bright” stars.
She could be mentally ill for the rest of her life so I guess if she wants to get married she should be able to, mentally stable or not.
Mental illness is a lifetime diagnosis. There are no cures to major mental illnesses; only treatments to alleviate the symptoms. Therein lies the difficulty for every person who is mentally ill, not just Britney Spears. Every human being has challenges in life; with effective treatment and community support a mentally ill person can handle those challenges as adequately as a “normal” person.
But I agree as above, the money is the thing. I can say without a doubt that Britney is in the 1% of the mentally ill population in terms of assets; compare her to other extreme-a high percentage of the homeless are mentally ill individuals who fall through the cracks-the help is not there..
So many people want to help Britney, and many of her helpers do not possess motives of altruism. The “person of interest” here is the fiance.
So, as above, this is a thorny situation indeed.
Dirty, nasty, diseased skank…
Enough about your mother…
Listen honeys, he’s all methed out you can tell by looking at him. He’s more of her handler than her hubby. He’s got the same look as Russell Brand. Perpetually high, eyes bugged out of the head. I grew up in Arizona. I know a tweeker when I see one.
There’s a lot going on that there’s no way to know about. Maybe there’s a good reason for this, or it’s not unusual under her specific circumstances. I’d like to hope so. Britney seems like a kind person who loves her kids. I bet she also just kind of wants to have a quiet life now. I really hope everything’s on the up and up, because she trusts these people (her dad and fiance).
How do we know she is bi-polar? I always thought she was schizophrenic. I don’t feel like any of them have her true best interest at heart. She clearly has no interest in her career. I think she’d rather spend time with her man, her kids and drink some starbucks. She’s worked hard since she was a young child. Let her be now.
I know a lot of people think her dad saved her life but WHY did they make her work so hard on that Circus tour if she wasn’t well?
I don’t trust her parents and I don’t trust this dude. Poor Brit brit 🙁
A lot of people have been through catastrophe and misfortune, not all of those people have had their rights restricted. Actually, few have, especially for this long. I don’t follow celebrities and o am uncertain of the details. However, look at all of the people who have been shown being out of their fkng mind
I don’t doubt that Britney’s dad saved her life. She was on a path to a total self-destruct and he stepped in to save her before irrepairable damage was done. But I do wonder how different it would have been if millions of dollars had not been involved. I also wonder if the work means anything at all to Britney or if they force her to it for the money she provides everyone.
If she wants to quit do they tell her that means she needs to be confined to a mental institution? Because you know everyone wants to be famous. Ha ha.
I just hope Britney isn’t being exploited worse now than when she was a kid.