LETTER: Britney speaks

I am pleased to see that Britney Spears has publicly spoken out against the conservatorship that has controlled all aspects of her personal life and finances for the past 13 years (“Spears to Judge: ‘I want my life back,’ ” Thursday Review-Journal).

As a celebrity, Britney can make her story more widely known so the public can understand that thousands of ordinary people also have suffered under conservatorships.

That includes my father, a Korean War Navy veteran who suffered from dementia. He came to be under a court-appointed conservator, although he had legal trust documents expressing his wishes. Within nine years my father died, his assets liquidated by the conservator. He died alone, isolated from his entire family in another state. Nothing I did stopped the conservatorship and the financial abuse.

This is more common than you think. Nevada experienced April Parks, a guardian who is now in prison for her role of taking elderly people out of their homes and liquidating their assets.

It is my hope that what is happening with Britney Spears will bring light onto what conservatorships/guardianships really are.