By Jennifer McShane
12th Nov 2020
12th Nov 2020
A US court has rejected an attempt by the popstar to have her father removed as a conservator of her estate
Jamie Spears has been his daughter’s legal guardian for 12 years, due to concerns about her mental health.
Multiple reports say Spears’ lawyer said she “afraid” of him, and that she would not perform so long as he remained in the role.
A judge said she would consider future appeals for his dismissal or outright removal but it was rejected at this time.
During a hearing on Tuesday, Spears’ lawyer, Samuel Ingham, said she and her father have no “viable working relationship” and have not spoken in a “long while”.
This is the latest turn in a complex case which has seen multiple members of Spears’ family involved in her estate in some form.
In a recent court filing Spears’ sister Jamie-Lynn asked for control of money stored in a trust fund set up for Britney’s children.
She requested the money be moved into accounts for which she is the custodian.
If approved, it would transfer the financial assets of the fund to those accounts and require a judge’s approval to release them.
The news comes soon after Lynn Spears publically posted messages of support for her sister, who unfairly remains under scrutiny as the #FreeBritney movement gathers pace.
She has now asked that all the assets of the SJB Revocable Trust be moved into one or more accounts with Fidelity Brokerage Services, which she controls.
The trust fund was established by the singer in 2004 to protect her children’s future.
The new court filing does not explain what role it could play in the singer’s protracted conservatorship case.
Such an arrangement is usually granted for individuals who are unable to make their own decisions, such as those with dementia or some other mental health difficulties.
Related: What is going on with Britney Spears, her conservatorship, the #FreeBritney movement?
To briefly recap: Britney has been in the care of a court-appointed authority, a “conservator” (currently her care manager, Jodi Montgomery, though Spears’ father remains the officially in that role), for over a decade, ostensibly to help manage her mental health (it all began in 2007 when Spears went through a number of public episodes).
Spears herself has formally requested that she now have access to her own life again, though that conservatorship has been extended to 2021. This is despite the singer’s lawyers telling the court earlier this month that she is “strongly opposed” to her father remaining the sole conservator of her personal and financial well-being.
This latest news involving her sister may in fact mean that Spears is asking for a family member of her preference to be involved in her situation, which can only be good for the singer.
The hashtag movement has persisted, despite Britney commenting on the matter directly (she had said all is fine), especially these last few months as some fans believe, as said, she is sending encoded calls for help through her social media channels.
Fans staged a protest outside a court in Los Angeles late August – as supporters continued to use the #FreeBritney hashtag on social media – with many believing the singer has been coerced once again into giving away financial control.
Either way, it doesn’t look like the situation will be resolved for the singer any time soon.
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