Britney Spears’ father to step down as conservator after 13 years

Britney Spears' father, Jamie Spears, has agreed to step down as the 39-year-old singer’s conservator after 13 years of guardianship over the star. 

Britney Spears' assets and personal affairs have been under the control of guardians since 2008. It was at this point that there were public concerns over the star’s mental health and an emergency conservatorship was introduced.

In 2019, Jamie stepped down as the conservator for his daughter’s personal affairs due to health reasons. However, Britney’s father still has full control over the singer’s financial assets and earnings. 

Her conservatorship is set to be the focus of a new Britney Spears Netflix documentary and only a few weeks ago, Britney’s lawyer Mathew Rosengart requested that Britney’s accountant replace her father as conservator. 

It was highlighted in court at this point, by Mathew, that Jamie Spears has been profiting from his daughter’s conservatorship. He said that Jamie has reportedly given himself a salary of $16,000 (£11,500) per month from her finances. 

This salary is alongside the cut that he takes from all of her performances and earnings, plus the additional sum he takes for his office space costs.

The petition from Britney's lawyer Mathew highlighted, "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." Adding, "He is a conservator, and, as a conservator, his role is to be burdened by, rather than benefit from, the conservatorship."

New court papers filed by Jamie Spears' lawyer were made public by TMZ recently. The documents reveal that Jamie has agreed to step down as conservator but that he believes there are ‘no actual grounds for suspending’ his role.

Jamie Spears’ lawyer said in these documents, "There are, in fact, no actual grounds for suspending or removing Mr. Spears as the conservator of the estate. And it is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears' best interests."

He continued, "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."

"So, even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter's new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator."

The documents concluded, "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."

Since this new development in court, Britney has taken to social media to share cryptic messages about her reaction to this news. The star posted a video of herself dancing on Instagram and spoke about freedom in the caption of the post.

The caption of the post read, "Video from Maui 🎥 ...you can see the last dance in red top I’m very hesitant when dancing 💃🏼 but letting go is freedom !!!!"

The star also posted a captionless drawing of a woman with her back turned who was surrounded by flowers and butterflies.

Fans think that this image is a symbol of Britney's newfound freedom and the image represents the star looking towards a new future.

It is also speculated by fans that the star has used flower imagery on her social media before to send hidden messages to fans.

Britney has yet to make an official statement about the potential end of her father's control over her assets. It has also not been revealed by the courts when this official conservatorship will end. 

However, Britney’s lawyer Mr. Rosengart stated in court, “This is a major victory for Britney Spears and another step toward justice." 

He concluded that Jamie Spears' decision to step down was, "vindication for Britney.”