Britney Spears’ lawyer has made a court filing seeking to remove the singer’s father from his role overseeing her finances as part of her conservatorship.
It comes after Spears appeared in court for a second time, where she said she wanted Jamie Spears to be charged with conservatorship abuse and removed from the legal agreement that has controlled most of her life for more than 13 years.
In a Los Angeles court filing, Matthew Rosengart, her new lawyer, asked that Jason Rubin be assigned to oversee the singer’s financial affairs.
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Britney Spears returns to court
According to the New York Times, there has also been a request made to remove Jamie Spears from the arrangement, but that document has not been made public.
In the filing, Mr Rosengart said that before he would attempt to end the conservatorship in full, he was first addressing “the most pressing issue facing Ms. Spears: removing Mr. Spears as conservator of the estate”.
He added: “Any father who genuinely loves his daughter and has her best interests at heart should willingly step aside in favour of the highly respected professional fiduciary nominated here.”
At the latest court hearing on 14 July, Jamie Spears’ lawyer Vivian Thoreen said that her client would not be stepping back from the arrangement, and that he was motivated by his daughter’s best interests.
Britney’s mother has said she supports Mr Rosengart’s proposal, adding that her ex-husband’s “microscopic control” over her daughter’s care and business decisions in 2018 and 2019 were particularly damaging, describing it as “living in custody”.
The Baby One More Time singer recently said she would never perform again while her father remains in control of her life, and has repeatedly called for his removal.
Jamie Spears has largely controlled her life since 2008, when she was placed into a conservatorship following some difficulties with her mental health.
Since her initial court appearance in June, the star’s long-term manager Larry Rudolph has reportedly resigned and the Bessemer Trust, a financial management company that was hired in 2020 to oversee Spears’s estate alongside her father, also pulled out of the arrangement, saying there had been “changed circumstances”.