Britney Spears's dad calls for 'immediate termination' of conservatorship, says no strings are attached: 'It is unconditional'
Britney Spears's father has filed court documents supporting the "immediate termination" of her conservatorship — and insists that no strings are attached.
The documents obtained by Yahoo Entertainment were filed Monday by the new legal team hired by Jamie Spears after his recent ouster as conservator and accusation of abusing his power in the role.
"Jamie unconditionally loves and supports his daughter. Full stop," his legal team states. "As he has done for her entire life, Jamie will do everything he can to protect and care for her. For the last 13 years, that included serving as her conservator. Now, it means ending her conservatorship. So it is said in no uncertain terms, Jamie believes that the conservatorship should end, immediately. Jamie will not seek to continue to serve as conservator."
It goes on to say that the conservatorship "was necessary to protect Britney," 39, when it was put in place in 2008. "Her life was in shambles and she was in physical, emotional, mental and financial distress."
Jamie took credit for Britney's life being turned around with it, and noted, "Through the conservatorship, Britney has been able to return to a path towards stability in all of these phases of her life. The mission has been successful and it is now time for Britney to re-take control of her life. Not tomorrow or next week, now." That would be through "the immediate termination of the conservatorship."
Jamie says his request is "unconditional" — as his previous filings requested the court to clear him of financial liabilities first.
"Jamie already petitioned this court to terminate the conservatorship and has offered to stipulate to its immediate termination without reservation or exception," the filing states. "Accordingly, Jamie hereby affirms his request to terminate the conservatorship and his willingness to stipulate to the same. To be clear, this request is not subject to any caveat. Jamie does not make this request subject to a demand for releases or compensation — it is unconditional."
Jamie maintains he's always acted "with Britney’s best interests" and is confident that any examination into how he ran the conservatorship will show that. In fact, he encourages examination.
"Jamie supports, indeed encourages, a full and transparent examination of the conservatorship and has every confidence that said review will put to rest the outlandish, scurrilous and irresponsible speculation that has accompanied the media circus surrounding these proceedings," the filing says.
It adds: "Jamie has nothing to hide regarding his administration of Britney’s estate." It calls for "every aspect of the conservatorship" to "be made available for public examination – not the targeted leaks and misinformation that have resulted in such tabloid fodder."
And he will "cooperate in transferring all files regarding the estate to Britney’s counsel without delay."
For more than a year, Britney tried to remove her father as conservator — and got her wish at the September hearing. That was more than two months after she pleaded her case directly to Judge Brenda Penny, alleging conservator abuse under her father. She claimed she was forced to work, take birth control and be treated at a mental health facility against her will.
After that, Britney was able to retain her own counsel for the first time in the 13-year conservatorship. That attorney, Mathew S. Rosengart, accused Jamie of mismanaging his daughter's finances. According to the New York Times, the pop star's house was also under surveillance without her knowledge, with personal conversations being recorded and her phone activity being tracked.
Rosengart said Jamie faces "serious ramifications for his misconduct," including potentially criminal charges. Also at issue is more than $1 million Jamie spent on legal fees to fight against Britney and remain conservator.
While Jamie again calls for the end of the conservatorship, Rosengart has said he plans to end the conservatorship — and gave the target date as by the end of fall. However, he said his first order of business was to remove Jamie, replace him with temporary conservator John Zabel and have all the previous conservatorship documents, including privileged communications between Jamie and his lawyers, turned over. That was, previous conservatorship activity could be fully examined.
In an Instagram post this week, Britney actually blamed her mother, Lynne Spears, for being put in the conservatorship all those years ago, despite Lynne not having an official role.
"My dad is not smart enough to ever think of a conservatorship," Britney wrote in the now-deleted posted.
On Monday, Lynne filed a petition in court requesting $650,000 in fees for her attorneys' involvement in Britney's conservatorship case. Lynne’s attorneys said she had contacted them to “help Britney free herself from what she saw as a very controlling existence” and that they had vetted expert doctors for Britney in May 2019 and called for Jamie’s removal from the conservatorship.
The next hearing will be Nov. 12. One of the issues to be raised in the potential termination of the conservatorship is ending it without the star having to undergo a psych exam. When Britney addressed the court in June, she said she doesn't want to have to go through another one because, due to the conservatorship, she doesn't trust doctors.