LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears’ dad has agreed to honor his daughter’s repeated requests and step down as conservator of her estate, capping a turbulent 13-year run at the helm of the pop star’s affairs.
The surprise move from Jamie Spears follows nearly two months after Britney first called her conservatorship “abusive” during a blockbuster court hearing in June and one week after her new lawyer filed paperwork asking for Jamie’s immediate suspension.
In a Thursday filing obtained by the Daily News, Jamie claims through his lawyer Vivian Thoreen that he was actually started the process of stepping aside before his daughter hired her new bulldog lawyer Mathew Rosengart last month.
“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,” the filing in Los Angeles County probate court reads.
“Mr. Spears intends to work with the court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator. As the court has likely surmised, before Ms. Spears’ new attorney arrived, Mr. Spears had already been working on such a transition with Ms. Spears’ former court-appointed counsel, Sam Ingham,” it claims.
The filing states that “regardless of his formal title, Mr. Spears will always be Ms. Spears’ father, he will always love her unconditionally, and he will always look out for her best interests.”
Rosengart, called Jamie’s voluntary exit from the conservatorship a victory for his client.
“We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed,” Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, said.
“It is vindication for Britney,” he said.
“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,” he said.
“I look forward to taking Mr. Spears’s sworn deposition in the near future. In the interim, rather than making false accusations and taking cheap shots at his own daughter, Mr. Spears should step aside immediately,” he said.
