Britney Spears Files to Have Dad Jamie Permanently Removed as Her Conservator

Britney Spears is taking another legal stand amid her ongoing conservatorship, filing to have her father, Jamie Spears, permanently removed as her conservator. Jamie has been in charge of his daughter’s conservatorship since its inception in 2008 when he was appointed as co-conservator alongside lawyer Andrew Wallet. Wallet voluntarily stepped down in March 2019; after that, Jamie was the sole conservator until he temporarily stepped down due to his health.

On Tuesday, Spears filed for a judge to remove Jamie as her conservator, asking that Bessemer Trust Company, a private and independent financial office, be the sole conservator of her estate from now on. In October, Jamie agreed to allow Bessemer Trust as Britney’s co-conservator along with himself, but Spears wants her father fully removed from her conservatorship. Billboard reports that Spears’ lawyer Samuel Ingham said in court papers that if Jamie retains his position, it will cause “Britney to suffer loss and injury.”

Last Wednesday, Spears had learned that her longtime business manager, Lou Taylor of Tri-Star Sports and Entertainment Group, had resigned, and Jamie allegedly hired Michael Kane of Miller Kaplan to serve as a business manager without his daughter’s knowledge.

“The Oct. 28 [last Wednesday’s] letter is a blatant attempt by [Jamie] to retain full functional control of her assets, books and records in the face of Britney’s objections, Tristar’s resignation and the appointment of Bessemer Trust,” the documents read, according to Entertainment Tonight. “His simple litigation strategy is to introduce a new gatekeeper who admittedly has a major working relationship with his legal team.”

Spears first asked that Bessemer Trust Company be appointed to serve as conservator of her estate back in August, a decision backed by her mother, Lynn Spears. Last week, Spears’ petition to expand her legal team was granted. Prior to that, Entertainment Tonight reported that the singer’s legal team was adamant in court documents that she does not share Jamie’s “vision of a future in which she resumes performing and leaves the management of her estate completely to him as she did in the past.”

This year has seen multiple developments in the legal battle surrounding Spears’ conservatorship, including Spears’ objection to Jamie’s wish to seal court proceedings. “Britney strongly believes it is consistent not only with her personal best interests but also with good public policy generally that the decision to appoint a new conservator of her estate be made in as open and transparent a manner as possible,” Ingham stated in court documents. “The sealing motion is supposedly being brought by her father to ‘protect’ Britney’s interests, but she is adamantly opposed to it.”

A hearing has been set for Nov. 10 that will determine whether Spears’ request to remove Jamie from her conservatorship will be granted.