Britney Spears has officially petitioned the court to remove her father as the conservator of her estate so she can be freed from the “kafkaesque nightmare” that’s become her life while under his control, according to new court filings.
The pop icon’s celebrity attorney Mathew Rosengart filed the petition Monday to Judge Brenda Penny and revealed the first glimpse at the legal strategy he plans to take to replace James Spears with an independent money man so he can eventually free Britney altogether.
“There might well come a time when the Court will be called upon to consider whether the conservatorship should be terminated in its entirety and whether — in addition to stripping his daughter of her dignity, autonomy, and certain fundamental liberties — Mr. Spears is also guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance warranting the imposition of surcharges, damages, or other legal action against him,” Rosengart wrote in the filing.
“Nevertheless, although our investigation into these issues and others is active and ongoing, this Petition does not ask the Court to address such issues today. Instead, this Petition asks the Court to take the initial narrow step, within its broad discretion, of removing Mr. Spears as conservator on grounds that do not even require Mr. Spears to be at, or admit to, fault.”
In the latest salvo in the ongoing legal war between the “Toxic’’ singer and her dad, Rosengart asked the court to replace James with CPA Jason Rubin, which would put Britney’s multi-million dollar estate squarely in the hands of neutral advisors.
While Rosengart made it clear his petition was only to remove James, and not litigate his alleged wrongdoings, he made numerous allusions to the mysterious state of Britney’s earnings and how the dad “has profited handsomely” from his role as a conservator — setting the stage for the legal battle that’s to come.
“Since at least 2009, Mr. Spears has been paying himself $16,000 per month from Ms. Spears’s Estate, $2,000 more than he has allotted to Ms. Spears. Mr. Spears also pays himself an additional $2,000 per month for office expenses — again, from Ms. Spears’s Estate,” Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor who previously handled high-profile financial litigation, wrote.
In a petition James filed to the court on June 12, he argued he needed the money to work with his lawyers to address “public, media, and social media attention,” which includes reading news articles, social media posts and watching documentaries, the records state. He further argued he needed the cash so he can continue to keep abreast of the “music, advertising and entertainment business.”
Rosengart noted James has also earned millions by taking shares of his daughter’s earnings that’s on top of the monthly income he receives for just acting as a conservator.
“Although it is common for managers, agents and other industry professionals to receive a percentage of an artists’ earnings, Mr. Spears is none of those. He is a conservator and, as a conservator, his role is to be burdened by, rather than benefit from, the conservatorship,” Rosengart wrote.
“Mr. Spears is not a professional business or financial manager. In fact, the Spears family struggled financially under his leadership and filed for bankruptcy in 1998.”
Rosengart said not only has Britney repeatedly demanded her father be removed from the position, and even be arrested for conservator abuse, the star’s doctors, mother and personal conservator Jodi Montgomery all showed support for James’ removal.
“It is clear to me that James P. Spears is incapable of putting my daughter’s interests ahead of his own on both a professional and personal level and that his being and remaining a conservator of my daughter’s estate is not in the best interests of my daughter,” mom Lynne Spears previously wrote in court filings, which Rosnergart cited in the petition.
“I have had numerous, ongoing conversations with the medical team and we all agree that it would be best for Ms. Spears’ well-being and mental health that her father stop acting as her Conservator,” added Montgomery in court records, which Rosengart also cited.
“In my opinion, Mr. Spears’ removal as Conservator is critical to [Britney Spears’s] emotional health and well-being and in the best interests of the conservatee,” Montgomery said, adding any conservators working with Britney should “not be family members” and it is in her best interest to only have “qualified neutral professional and/or corporate fiduciaries” serving in the role.
The mega star’s mother echoed Montgomery’s sentiments and took them a step further by calling James’s approach as a conservator “exhausting and terrifying” and akin to “living in custody,” the court records state.
Lynne testified in court filings during a “critical period from 2018 into 2019,” James had “absolute control over the conservatee’s money and her healthcare decisions.”
Lynne alleged he used that power and “microscopic control” to approve treatment from a “sports enhancement doctor,” who prescribed medication that was “entirely inappropriate” and “compelled” the star to enter a health treatment facility against her wishes, the records show.
“The relationship between the conservatee and Mr. Spears has dwindled to nothing but fear and hatred of Mr. Spears by the conservatee due to Mr. Spears’ behavior, including his complete control over her, his mistrust of her, his coercion of her, his ‘bartering’ with her over what she can and cannot do for whatever reward or punishment he is willing to mete out, his constant threats, and his decision-making over all aspects of her life,” the mom said, according to the filing.
Lynne further alluded to a “physical altercation” that occurred between James and Britney’s two kids, calling it “appalling and inexcusable” behavior that “understandably destroyed whatever was left of a relationship between them.”
Rosengart said Britney’s ability to function as a global superstar is “antithetical to the notion that she needs to continue indefinitely to be subjected to a conservatorship… which is supposed to be a last resort” and asked the court to do what the star has repeatedly asked.
“Regardless of whether Mr. Spears contests his daughter’s testimony and perception for the status quo, Ms. Spears’s testimony is genuine and makes clear that Mr. Spears’ continued presence as conservator is not in her best interests,” Rosengart wrote.
Britney has been under the conservatorship since 2008 and up until this month, had the same court-appointed attorney that never told her ending the legal arrangement was even a possibility, she previously testified.
She just won the right to hire Rosengart, who has vowed repeatedly to help his client free herself of the legal chains.
Rosengart’s petition is scheduled to be heard at a Dec. 13 court hearing.
