Britney Spears Legal Team's Choice for New Conservator Has Troubled Record of Their Own

Britney Spears' legal team has a new pick to take over as her conservator, but their choice may [...]

Britney Spears' legal team has a new pick to take over as her conservator, but their choice may not pass the bar. Page Six reports that their choice, Jason Rubin, was once denied guardianship of his own mother. The tabloid obtained documents that revealed Rubin petitioned in 2020 to become his mother Ida Rubin's temporary guardian, with the aim to become her permanent one, due to her mental health issues. Rubin, who is a forensics accounting expert, requested guardianship over both Ida's estate and her person, although the exact sum of her trust was not disclosed.

Rubin claimed that "Ida suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and that her mental health was declining." However, Ida herself and Rubin's brother Mark objected, and Ida claimed that she was "competent enough to handle [her] own medical and financial affairs." Rubin included call logs from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and incident reports from the security at Ida's residence facility in his filing that allegedly showed she asked officers to perform "nonsensical acts." Rubin also obtained a physician's certificate prepared by Dr. Gregory P. Brown, who claimed that Ida's behavior "strongly suggest the presence of psychosis [a substantial break in the perception of consensual reality]" after his review. He stated on the record that Ida's "delusional beliefs … placed her at risk of harm [either to self or others]."

However, because Brown did not conduct an in-person assessment, Rubin's request was denied. "Further, although Dr. Brown expressed concern that Ida's mental illness may cause her to be a danger to herself or others, he provided no facts and the record does not support that Ida's safety is in jeopardy," the court documents read. "In fact, the police call logs state that Ida is 'ok but delusional' and that she is 'able to care for [her] self and [that her] house was clean.'" The court ruled that Jason could "refile the petition if he was able to obtain a physician's certificate" should he wish to do so in the future. Ultimately, it was decided that while Ida had "suffered from mental illness for some time," she "remains capable of caring for herself and handling her day-to-day activities."

Will this failed attempt make it difficult for Spears' legal team to replace her father Jamie Spears with Rubin as head of the financial aspects of her conservatorship? Jamie agreed to step down on Aug. 12, saying that while he believes his removal is "unjustified," he "intends to work with the Court and his daughter's new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator." While that decision was a step in the right direction, the legal battle is clearly far from over.

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