According to legal documents filed last Friday in the case of her conservatorship, Britney Jean Spears is deceased. However, the singer is not the object of a prank, as it has been the case with “Harry Potter” star Emma Watson, but rather of a misunderstanding and a secretarial honest mistake, as TMZ has learned.

The celebrity gossip website and paparazzi agency got hold of the papers in question hours ago, and was shocked to see that Britney was pronounced “deceased” on them. After some digging and talking to Spears’ management, though, TMZ got to the bottom of the matter by learning that it was just an honest mistake and Britney was alive and well, as few doubted it presumably.

“We just pulled court documents that say Britney Spears is deceased! But don’t panic – it’s not true. Just a little secretarial mess up. The docs were filed last Friday in Britney’s conservatorship case. The lawyers were asking the judge to restate an order, keeping various business records confidential. But the first page reads, ‘In re the Conservatorship of the Person and Estate of BRITNEY JEAN SPEARS, Deceased.’ No harm, no foul. Mega-lawyer Geraldine Wyle assures us Britney is just fine and has a long life expectancy, and she’ll refile the papers, showing the Brit is still among us.” TMZ writes, clarifying all potential misunderstandings and false rumors.

While on the topic of false rumors, the latest celebrity to be put on the spot in such a way was original “Charlie’s Angels” star Jaclyn Smith, as we also reported at the time. Gossip blogger Perez Hilton picked up a report in a Spanish-language newspaper saying Smith’s double on the successful show had shot herself in her home in Honduras, and misread it as if it was about Smith herself.

As rumors spread on the Internet like wild fire, saying the actress was badly injured in the hospital with doctors believing there was no way out for her, her rep rubbished the reports in one short statement. Jaclyn Smith was alive and well in her Los Angeles home and anyone saying the contrary was terribly misinformed.