Britney Spears' dad insists 13-year conservatorship saved her life

Britney Spears' father, Jamie Spears, is speaking out for the first time since her 13-year conservatorship ended just over a year ago.

Britney's father claimed that his conservatorship over his daughter may have saved not only her life, but her relationship with her children.

"Without my help, Britney might be dead," the headline reads in Spears' exclusive interview with the Mail on Sunday about the controversial legal maneuver in which a California court named him her conservator.

Jamie Spears told the Daily Mail, "Not everybody's going to agree with me, but I love my daughter with all my heart and soul. Where would Britney be right now without that conservatorship? And I don't know if she'd be alive. I don't."

He claims it also helped her relationship with her two teenage sons, saying, "For protecting her, and also protecting the kids, conservatorship was a great tool."

Jamie claimed that it also saved her financially, telling the Daily Mail, "She was broke. She had no money whatsoever. The conservatorship set a resource where she could get back financially. And, you know, we worked and she worked, and she got herself straight up financially."

The singer successfully argued to have the conservatorship dissolved last year, after more than 13 years of ceding control over her personal and financial life to her father.

During that time, Britney's fans becoming vocal in what became a worldwide movement dubbed "Free Britney."

In August, Britney posted a video to her nearly 10 million subscribers on her YouTube channel.

"He loved to control everything I did," Britney said in the video. "I had to go along with it because I knew they could hurt me."