Amanda Bynes wants to end conservatorship, lawyer says 'she believes her condition is improved'
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Amanda Bynes wants to put an end to her nearly nine-year conservatorship, according to a petition filed by the actress Wednesday.
According to a petition filed Wednesday with the Ventura County Superior Court, Bynes is seeking termination of the conservatorship of both her person and estate. A hearing is scheduled for March 22.
“Amanda wishes to terminate her conservatorship,” Bynes’ lawyer David A. Esquibias told People. “She believes her condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Bynes' attorney for comment.
Bynes' mother Lynn was temporarily granted a conservatorship of the actress and her estate in 2013 following bouts of bizarre tweets and public appearances. This was after Bynes was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold that same year and set a fire in a neighbor's driveway.
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After rocketing to fame with starring roles in the Nickelodeon series “The Amanda Show” and films “What a Girl Wants” and “She's the Man,” Bynes stepped away from the public eye to deal with mental health issues and substance abuse. Her last movie role was “Easy A” in 2010, and she announced her retirement from the entertainment industry that same year. “I don't love acting anymore so I've stopped doing it,” she tweeted in June 2010.
Bynes graduated from the Los Angeles-based Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising with an Associate of Arts degree in Merchandise Product Development in June 2019, after enrolling in the school in 2014.
The “Hairspray” star previously opened up to Paper magazine in November 2018 about her struggles after leaving the Hollywood spotlight.
“I just had no purpose in life,” she said of the time after “Easy A” had wrapped. "I'd been working my whole life and (then) I was doing nothing. I had a lot of time on my hands and I would 'wake and bake' and literally be stoned all day long ... I got really into my drug usage and it became a really dark, sad world for me.”
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But she also shared with the magazine at the time that she did have the desire to act again.
“I have no fear of the future,” Bynes said. “I've been through the worst and came out the other end and survived it, so I just feel like it's only up from here.”
Bynes isn’t the only star to find herself under a conservatorship in recent years. In November, pop star Britney Spears successfully sought the termination of her 13-year conservatorship.
But estate attorney Ryan Sellers said there are "key differences" that set these women's legal dilemmas apart.
"Britney had specific reasons for terminating her conservatorship," Sellers told USA TODAY. "Britney didn't want to tour constantly, she didn't want to be monitored by ‘security’ and she wanted to have more children. Amanda hasn't worked as an actress or singer since 2010."
Sellers added: "It isn't clear what Amanda disagrees with her conservator about, if anything. She isn't being pushed into any excessive work responsibilities. She speaks highly of her pursuit of an education and her day-to-day life. She has enough autonomy that she is considering getting into the perfume industry. The court is going to have to make a difficult evaluation of whether Amanda would really be better off without the conservatorship."
What is a conservatorship?
When a person is considered to have a severely diminished mental capacity, a court can step in and grant someone the power to make financial decisions and major life choices for them.
Specific conservatorship laws and limitations vary per state. In California, conservatorship is defined as a court case where a judge appoints a responsible person or organization to care for an adult who cannot take care of themselves or their finances.
David English, chair of the National Guardianship Network, previously told USA TODAY that in most cases, a guardianship or conservatorship is appointed for someone elderly who has dementia. It can also be granted for someone with very serious developmental disabilities.
More: Britney Spears wants freedom: What is conservatorship? Why would someone need a conservator?
Most states require some kind of evaluation by a physician or psychologist for the petition to be granted by a county court where a judge would hear the case.
“If an adult individual is determined by the court to lack mental capacity, the court may appoint someone else to make decisions for that person,” English said.
For adults, a petition for conservatorship can be filed with the court at any age over 18 and can last until the conservatee, the person under the conservatorship, dies. However, estate attorney Jack Hales said a conservatorship isn't meant to be a lifelong arrangement in most scenarios.
“Unless someone is suffering from an irreparable inability to control their life, such as a permanent disability, the hope is that conservatorship leads to getting someone back on their feet," Hales told USA TODAY. "A person doesn’t need to be leading a perfect life to have the physical and mental ability to manage their own life decisions.”
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Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff, Charles Trepany, Maria Puente, Asha C. Gilbert, Gabriela Miranda
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amanda Bynes seeks to end nearly nine-year conservatorship
