Conservatorship: What If Britney Spears Resided In New York State? What New York Lawyers Should Know

BRITNEY SPEARS AND NETFLIX’S I CARE A LOT: PUBLIC PERCEPTION VS. REALITY AND THE IMPACT ON GUARDIANSHIP PRACTICE

This program will focus on the civil liberties and due process protections under New York’s Adult Guardianship statute, Article 81 of the Mental Health and Hygiene Law, in light of the negative media portrayal of guardianships/conservatorships in coverage of the Britney Spears case and the Netflix movie, I Care a Lot. The program will separate fact from fiction in the Spears case specifically, and guardianships generally. It will provide practitioners with an understanding of New York’s move away from restrictive conservatorships and committees and towards a system that seeks to preserve as much autonomy and independence as possible for individuals with impaired capacity. The program will prepare practitioners to understand and address their clients’ fears about the guardianship system and use Article 81’s flexibility to craft solutions that will protect an incapacitated person from harm while safeguarding their liberties.

It will provide an overview of the similarities and differences between New York’s and other states’ systems for addressing the needs of individuals who lack capacity, and explore whether Article 81 strikes the appropriate balance between protecting the incapacitated person’s privacy rights and the public interest in open courts and judicial accountability.