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Artist News Legal
Britney Spears files request to remove her father from conservatorship
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 27 July 2021
Britney Spears has filed new legal documents requesting that her father, Jamie Spears, be removed as conservator of her estate. She and new lawyer Mathew Rosengart have also identified accountant Jason Rubin as the person they would like to be installed in his place.
In the court papers, Rosengart describes the conservatorship that has controlled Spears’ financial and personal affairs since 2008 as a “Kafkaesque nightmare”.
The lawyer, of course, took over as Spears’ legal representative earlier this month, following the resignation of court-appointed attorney Sam Ingham. This is the first time the musician has been able to choose here own legal rep since the conservatorship began.
Rosengart says that “serious questions abound” concerning Jamie Spears’ “potential misconduct” during the conservatorship, which has seen him in charge of his daughter’s financial affairs for most of the last thirteen years.
The lawyer notes that Jamie Spears takes a monthly salary from his daughter’s estate, as well as costs and fees from her performance contracts. This, Rosengart says, should not be the case.
“Although it is common for managers, agents and other industry professionals to receive a percentage of an artists’ earnings, Mr Spears is none of those”, says Rosengart. “He is a conservator, and, as a conservator, his role is to be burdened by, rather than benefit from, the conservatorship”.
If approved by the court to take over the financial conservator role, the court documents ask that Jason Rubin be given all financial authority to manage Britney’s estate, along with powers of attorney to make healthcare decisions and manage real estate.
Britney, of course, has said that she wants the conservatorship to be brought to an end entirely. It is thought that this is probably the first stage of what is likely to be a long process in making that happen. In that, it’s possible that removing Jamie Spears will make ending the overall arrangement easier.
In the filing, Rosengart says: “There might well come a time when the court will be called upon to consider whether the conservatorship should be terminated in its entirety”.
A hearing to consider replacing Jamie Spears with Jason Rubin is set for 13 Dec.
