Britney Spears, the American pop singer, has said that her father Jamie Spears’ exit from her ongoing conservatorship needs to happen as soon as possible and without a price tag, Deadline reported.
“Regardless of the past, Mr Spears and his counsel are now on notice: the status quo is no longer tolerable, and Britney Spears will not be extorted,” said the singer’s lawyer Matthew Rosengart in a filing submitted to a Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday.
The former federal prosecutor, and the first attorney chosen by Spears herself, added, “Mr Spears’ blatant attempt to barter suspension and removal in exchange for approximately $2 million in payments, on top of the millions already reaped from Ms Spears’ estate by Mr Spears and his associates, is a non-starter.”
The 39-year-old pop singer has been in a conservatorship under her father for 13 years, which she has termed “abusive.” She entered into a temporary conservatorship or guardianship with her father in 2018 following several public meltdowns. It gave her father, Jamie Spears, control over her financial affairs, estate, and her personal life.
After a prolonged legal battle to end the conservatorship, her father finally agreed to step aside on August 12 in a sudden about turn after objecting to his daughter’s requests and denying her claims all the while. He said that while there were “no actual grounds for suspending or removing” him, he intended to work with the court to assure “an orderly transition to a new conservator.”
Claiming there were “no urgent circumstances justifying Mr Spears’ immediate suspension,” his lawyers added that he would step aside from the conservatorship after resolving outstanding matters, including financial accounting for the conservatorship in recent years.
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Spears and her lawyer have now made it clear that the singer is not inclined to wait for her father’s eventual step-down and have sought his suspension if he doesn’t pick up the pace with his exit.
“Contrary to the powers that Mr Spears and his counsel seek to arrogate unto themselves, they do not get to choose the time and place of Mr Spears’s departure. Those issues are governed by law, the best interests of Ms Spears, and by this Court,” the petition stated.
The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for September 29.