You probably can’t imagine how the case of a multi-millionaire, fallen from grace pop star could have any application at all to you.

Well, you might be surprised to know that Britney’s case has a lot of lessons for all of us, no matter how much money we have in the bank.

The other day I told you that Britney’s dad had been appointed as conservator of her person and co-conservator of her estate, which means dad’s now in control of what Britney can do, who she can see, and he’s controlling all access to her bank accounts and credit cards.

Well, apparently, over the weekend, Britney attempted to hire her own lawyer (Andrew Streisand) to fight her dad’s attempt to take over her personal and financial affairs.

But, the Court refused to recognize Streisand as Britney’s lawyer because the court-appointed lawyer assigned to evaluate Britney said that Brit doesn’t have capacity right now to hire her own lawyer at this point.

So, she’s out of luck.

For the life of me, I can’t imagine why Britney didn’t have a relationship with her own personal lawyer before now, but apparently she didn’t. You’d think that someone with her wealth would have a Will, a Trust, Health Care Directives, Powers of Attorney, Guardian Nominations … basically a comprehensive estate plan to protect her kids and her money.

And you’d also think that her estate planning would have been handled by her personal lawyer.

Guess not!

If it had, her lawyer would have had standing to appear on her behalf in Court today. But, because she didn’t, there’s no one representing what Britney wants in this whole fiasco.

How is this applicable to you?

Because it highlights how important it is for you to have a relationship with a personal lawyer before you need it.

By the time you need a relationship with a lawyer, it’s often too late. You are in a crisis situation and beginning a relationship during a crisis is often either impossible or very costly.

Instead, if you begin a relationship with your personal lawyer while everything is good and right in your life, you and your family will have someone to call who knows you and what’s important to you during that crisis situation.

One day you’ll need a lawyer, I don’t know when and I don’t know why, but when you do, you’ll be so grateful to have a relationship with your own personal lawyer.

It’s too late now for Britney, but it’s not too late for you … today having a personal lawyer is both accessible and affordable and if you own your home, care about your family, and want a trusted advisor to call when you are in crisis, you can and should have one of your own.

© 2008 Alexis Martin Neely

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