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Andrew Wallet

1 November 2025
Andrew Wallet

Andrew Wallet is the California estate planning attorney who made $426,000 a year controlling Britney Spears' finances - and yes, his last name is actually Wallet. For over a decade, he served as co-conservator of Spears' estate alongside her father Jamie Spears, managing every financial decision for one of the world's biggest pop stars. When the 2021 documentary Framing Britney Spears thrust the conservatorship into the global spotlight, Wallet became a symbol of everything critics said was wrong with the system.

Wallet is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Trust & Probate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, with over 39 years of experience. He's been named a "Super Lawyer" in Trust and Estate Litigation by Southern California Super Lawyers magazine and has received the "AV Preeminent Rating" from Martindale-Hubbell. He's admitted to the State Bar of California since May 30, 1980, after attending Northrop University School of Law in Los Angeles.

His law practice, Andrew M. Wallet, Attorney At Law, Inc., is located at 2551 La Sierra Ct, Camarillo, CA 93012 in Ventura County. The firm specializes in acting as trustee of trusts, administrator of probate estates, and conservator work - exactly the kind of legal practice that positioned Wallet to take on the Spears conservatorship.

The Britney Spears Conservatorship

In February 2008, following Spears' highly publicized mental health crisis and breakdown, a court appointed Jamie Spears as temporary conservator of her person, while appointing both Jamie and Andrew Wallet as temporary co-conservators of Britney's estate. Permanent letters were issued on January 9, 2009, giving Jamie and Wallet extensive powers including the ability to revoke all powers of attorney, modify or amend any revocable trusts without a court order, and pursue professional opportunities for Spears as long as they were approved by her medical team.

At the time the conservatorship began, Britney's attorney Adam Streisand claimed that Wallet didn't have the expertise to manage Britney's then-$40 million estate, which encompassed 15 separate entities. The court appointed him anyway.

The $426,000 Salary

In October 2018, Wallet filed court documents asking for a substantial raise. He cited Britney's "increased well being and her capacity to be more engaged in furthering her career activities" and described her conservatorship as "a hybrid business model." Wallet argued that since he became co-conservator, Britney's estate had increased by $20 million, claiming that at the beginning of the conservatorship, "the estate was nearly out of fund and cash equivalents" and that "extraordinary skills have been employed by all in order to achieve the results enjoyed at the present time."

The court approved Wallet's request to be compensated $426,000 per year. To justify this salary, Wallet claimed that he kept "literally hundreds of people" in check - including vendors, dancers, and hair stylists - who he alleged could have brought "financial disaster" to Britney by derailing her rehabilitation efforts.

Tess Barker, host of the Britney's Gram podcast, told Vanity Fair that such a huge raise felt suspicious: "It didn't seem that being someone's conservator should be a for-profit position." Critics of the conservatorship pointed to this compensation as evidence that Wallet was exploiting Britney for financial gain, though California law does allow conservators to collect "reasonable" compensation.

During her Las Vegas residency, the financial stakes were enormous. Spears' estate was making around $300,000 per show with close to a million dollars being deposited into her bank account each week.

The Abrupt Resignation

In January 2019, Spears canceled her Las Vegas residency and announced an "indefinite work hiatus." This led to Wallet suddenly resigning from his position. According to court documents filed on March 4, 2019, Wallet stated that "The conservatorship is engaged in numerous ongoing business activities requiring immediate attention and it therefore is in the best interest of the conservatee that the acceptance of Wallet's resignation and the issuance of amended letters of conservatorship of the estate occur immediately and without delay."

Wallet did not provide a specific reason for his resignation, but received $100,000 for stepping down. The resignation left Jamie Spears as the sole conservator of Britney's estate.

The Attempted Comeback

In August 2020, Jamie Spears filed a petition with the Superior Court of California to have Wallet return as co-conservator of Britney's estate. By this point, Britney's estate was valued at $57.4 million in assets as of December 31, 2019, with $2.7 million in cash assets.

Britney's lawyers fiercely opposed this move, calling Wallet "uniquely unsuitable" for the role. According to court filings, Britney said she would not be able to afford Wallet, as she had "no desire" to perform again at that time. Jamie quietly withdrew the petition to reappoint Wallet in October 2020.

Public Statements and the #FreeBritney Movement

After the failed reappointment attempt, Wallet spoke out publicly. In an October 5, 2020 Daily Mail article, Wallet accused the #FreeBritney campaign of "complicating matters" when they "don't have a clue" about the conservatorship. "Britney to this day does not have the capacity to sign documents and make decisions for herself," he said. "Protecting her assets is very important and for that the conservatorship has to stay in place because she is susceptible to undue influences." He added that she could potentially be in a conservatorship for the rest of her life.

These comments did not age well. Britney was freed from the conservatorship in November 2021 - just over a year after Wallet made those claims.

Framing Britney Spears and the Documentary Spotlight

The documentary Framing Britney Spears, directed by Samantha Stark and released on February 5, 2021 on FX and Hulu as part of The New York Times Presents series, examined Spears' life, career, breakdown, and the conservatorship. The film brought massive public attention to the conservatorship arrangement and the #FreeBritney movement.

The documentary highlighted how profitable the conservatorship was for those involved, showing that lawyer Andrew Wallet had been serving as co-conservator of her estate for over a decade alongside Jamie Spears, and that in 2018 he petitioned the court for a raise, citing Britney's "increased well being." He also described her conservatorship as "a hybrid business model." The court approved Wallet's raise, though he abruptly resigned as co-conservator in 2019.

The documentary garnered critical acclaim and widespread international media coverage, contributing to heightened mainstream public awareness of the conservatorship dispute. It won the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in News and Information and received two nominations at the 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Career Beyond Britney Spears

Before and after the Spears conservatorship, Wallet maintained a private law practice focused on estate planning, trust administration, and probate work. He acts as trustee of trusts, administrator of probate estates, and conservator of estates in related administration work.

Wallet has ties to Nancy Sanborn and the Sanborn Team, known for work in liquidation and victim estates. He was an invited speaker at the Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) Trusts & Estates Section monthly Probate Attorneys Lunch along with Nancy Sanborn, where they spoke on the subject of probate and trust real estate sales.

Bar Status and Current Practice

As of September 18, 2022, Wallet's status with the California State Bar was listed as "Resigned." There has been online speculation about whether he remains eligible to practice law in California, particularly after a March 2022 social media post claimed he was "no longer eligible to practice law in California."

However, his law firm continues to maintain a presence. Records show the firm was established in 2017 and incorporated in California, with an estimated annual revenue of $85,228 and approximately 2 staff members as of recent estimates.

The Legacy and Controversy

Andrew Wallet's role in the Britney Spears conservatorship has made him a controversial figure in discussions about conservatorship abuse and reform. The #FreeBritney movement and its supporters viewed him as profiting excessively from controlling another person's life and finances.

When Britney's memoir The Woman In Me was published in October 2023, the revelation that she paid Wallet $426,000 per year sparked renewed outrage on social media. "I'm sorry has anyone addressed the fact that this man's name is literally 'Andrew Wallet,'" wrote one account. "Using her money to pay him to restrict her from not using her money is wild," added another.

Critics have pointed out the inherent conflicts of interest in conservatorships where the conservator is paid substantial sums from the conservatee's estate - creating a financial incentive to maintain the conservatorship rather than help the conservatee regain independence.

Wallet's claim that Britney might need to be in a conservatorship "for the rest of her life" - made just months before she was freed and has since demonstrated her capability to manage her own affairs - has been held up as evidence of how conservatorships can become self-perpetuating systems that serve the interests of conservators more than conservatees.

The Bigger Picture

The Britney Spears conservatorship case, and Andrew Wallet's prominent role in it, became a catalyst for broader discussions about conservatorship reform in California and across the United States. The case highlighted how conservatorships - originally designed as a last resort for elderly people with dementia or serious mental illness - can potentially be misused to control younger people experiencing temporary mental health crises.

As noted by legal experts, Britney had created the SJB Trust, a revocable inter vivos trust, in 2004 to hold her assets and allow her to continue managing them as trustee - a tool specifically designed to avoid conservatorships by allowing a trust to hold and direct distributions upon incapacity. Yet despite having this trust in place, the conservatorship was still imposed with sweeping powers.

Andrew Wallet's involvement in the most famous conservatorship case in modern American history ensured his name would be forever linked to the debate over conservatorship abuse, reform, and the question of when legal control over another adult's life crosses the line from protection to exploitation.

Whether viewed as a competent fiduciary who helped stabilize a troubled estate or as someone who profited handsomely from controlling a pop star's life and fortune, Andrew Wallet remains a central figure in one of the 21st century's most controversial legal arrangements - one that captivated the world and ultimately helped spark conservatorship reform efforts across the United States.

Sources

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