Amanda Bynes filed court documents at the Ventura County Superior Court on Wednesday to end her conservatorship of nearly nine years, according to reports.
“Amanda wishes to terminate her conservatorship,” Bynes’ attorney, David A. Esquibias, said in a statement shared with People on Friday. “She believes her condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary.” A hearing is scheduled for March 22.
Her mother, Lynn Bynes, has had legal control of her personal, medical and financial affairs since August 2013. The legal arrangement began after Amanda, then 27, was hospitalized on an involuntary psychiatric hold for bizarre behavior, including allegedly starting a fire in a stranger’s driveway and pouring gasoline on her own dog.
In 2014, Bynes revealed in a since-deleted tweet that she had been diagnosed as bipolar but was “fine” as she was on medication and seeing both a psychologist and a psychiatrist weekly.
In September 2021, when the case last went before a judge, Esquibias told People that the conservatorship had not been renewed through March 2023, as some reports indicated. He told the outlet that the arrangement is “open day to day,” and “her conservatorship will terminate when it is no longer convenient for Amanda.”
Possibly emboldened by Britney Spears’ success in ending her 13-year conservatorship, Bynes has bumped up the timetable for a reassessment, which was not due until November.
In her documents, the former actress is seeking to terminate the oversight of her person and estate. On Tuesday, she filed a capacity declaration in accordance with California state law, which requires all conservatorship cases to have a current assessment of a conservatee’s mental state.