End conservatorship, Spears asks court

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears asked a judge Wednesday to end court conservatorship that has controlled her life and money since 2008.

The request at a Los Angeles hearing came with her first words in open court in the conservatorship in its 13-year existence.

Spears, who spoke to the court remotely by phone, called the conservatorship “abusive,” and condemned her father and the others who have controlled it.

“I want to end this conservatorship without being evaluated,” Spears said in a long, emotional and sometimes profane speech, in which she condemned the legal arrangement and her father, who has controlled it for most of its existence. “I deserve to have a life.” Spears said she wants to marry her boyfriend and have a baby, but the conservatorship won’t allow her to.

Spears has spoken in court on the conservatorship before, but the courtroom was always cleared and transcripts sealed.

The conservatorship was put in place as she underwent a mental health crisis in 2008. She has credited it with saving her from financial ruin and keeping her a top flight pop star.

Her father and his attorneys have emphasized that she and her fortune, which court records put at more than $50 million, remain vulnerable to fraud and manipulation. Under the law, the burden would be on Spears to prove she is competent to be released and free to make her own choices.

Her court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham III, said Spears has not officially asked him to file a petition to end the conservatorship.