Jamie Spears announced Thursday he will step down as conservator of Britney Spears’ estate.
In a formal response to the pop star’s petition to remove her father from the role he has had for 13 years, Jamie’s attorney cited the “public battle with his daughter” as the reason for his decision.
“There are, in fact, no actual grounds for suspending or removing Mr. Spears as the Conservator of the Estate under Probate Code section 2650,” read the filing. “And it is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears’ best interests.
“Nevertheless, even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests.”
Jamie promised to “work with the Court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator.”
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Spears’ lawyer Mathew Rosengart, in a statement, called Jamie’s decision “vindication for Britney” but suggested Jamie “remain silent and step aside immediately” rather than making “false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter.”
He wrote: “We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed … We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others.
“We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter’s estate, and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears’s sworn deposition in the near future.”
Just a week ago, Jamie Spears filed documents in court claiming his daughter’s conservator of person, Jodi Montgomery, was “very worried” about his daughter’s mental health.
“On July 9, 2021, I received a phone call from Ms. Montgomery. During our call, Ms. Montgomery sounded very distraught and expressed how concerned she was about my daughter’s recent behaviour and overall mental health. Ms. Montgomery explained that my daughter was not timely or properly taking her medications, was not listening to the recommendations of her medical team and refused to even see some of her doctors.”
Jamie claimed Montgomery wanted Britney placed under a 5150 hold, which allows a person to be held at a psychiatric facility against their will for up to 72 hours.
Montgomery's lawyer Laurieann Wright countered that Jamie misrepresented the conversation but confirmed that Montgomery has “concerns about Ms. Spears’ recent behaviour and overall mental health.” Wright said Montgomery blames Jamie and believes it is in Britney’s best interests for him to resign as co-conservator “so he can go back to just being Ms. Spears’ father, and working on a healthy, supportive father-daughter relationship.”
Jamie was appointed co-conservator of his famous daughter on Feb. 1, 2008 after she suffered a mental health breakdown. The conservatorship was made permanent on Oct. 7, 2008. Last month, exactly 4,925 days after her father was given control of her finances, Britney filed to have him ousted and replaced by certified public accountant Jason Rubin.
In his filing, Rosengart described the conservatorship as a “Kafkaesque nightmare” and said the relationship between Jamie and his daughter is “venomous.” The documents allege “potential misconduct, including conflicts of interest [and] conservatorship abuse.”
It was the first time Spears formally sought to remove her father from his role as conservator of her finances and estate.
She hired Rosengart last month after years of representation by court-appointed lawyer Samuel Ingham III, who resigned after Spears testified on June 23 that she wanted out of the conservatorship. It was then that Spears said she believed her father “should be in jail.”
Last November, Ingham told Judge Brenda Penny that Britney "is afraid of her father" and vowed "she will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career."
On July 14, Spears accused her father of being “abusive” and in an Instagram post a few days later, she told fans: “I'm not gonna be performing on any stages anytime soon with my dad handling what I wear, say, do, or think.”
In March, Jamie's lawyer Vivian Lee Thoreen told CNN that her client may not have been the best father to Britney but “believes every single decision he has made has been in her best interest.
"Britney knows that she can contact her daddy anytime and that he will be there for her. Whether or not there's a conservatorship, Jamie will love Britney."
To date, no application has been made to replace or remove Jodi Montgomery, who is Spears’ conservator of person, nor to end the conservatorship.