Britney & the battle for control

• Sets out the procedure for deputyship, the English version of the US conservatorship

Following the recent high-profile legal battle in the US over Britney Spears’s application to remove her father from his role in her conservatorship, we consider what the equivalent of a conservatorship would be in England and how the situation may differ if Britney lived over here and was under the English legal system.

US v England & Wales

A conservatorship in the US is granted by a court for individuals who lack mental capacity to make decisions, perhaps due to dementia, brain injury or another severe mental illness. An individual or organisation (or both) can be appointed as conservator and conservatorships can deal with either a person’s estate and finances or their personal needs and welfare (or both).

In England and Wales, the equivalent of a conservatorship is a deputyship. Deputyship orders are made by the Court of Protection