Judge Denies Britney Spears’ Request to Remove Father From Conservatorship
UPDATE (7/1/2021): Bessemer Trust, the wealth management firm that was set to take over as a co-conservator of Britney Spears’ estate with her father, has put forth its resignation from the arrangement, citing Spears’ public criticism of the conservatorship (via The New York Times).
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According to a New York Times report, the firm stated in its court filing that it had been told Spears’ involvement in the conservatorship was voluntary, and that she had consented to the firm’s role as co-conservator. However, Following Spears’ testimony and criticism of the conservatorship at the June 23rd hearing, Bessemer Trust chose to pull out of the arrangement.
“As a result of the conservatee’s testimony at the June 23 hearing…Petitioner has become aware that the Conservatee objects to the continuance of her Conservatorship and desires to terminate the conservatorship,” the court filing states. “Petitioner has heard the Conservatee and respects her wishes.”
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Bessemer Trust had been approved by the court to serve as co-conservator alongside Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, who remains her sole conservator.
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A Los Angeles County Supreme Court judge denied Britney Spears’ request to remove her father from her ongoing conservatorship on Wednesday night.
The decision follows Spears’ testimony last week in which she expressed her wish to end the conservatorship altogether. Judge Brenda Penny’s ruling was not in response to that hearing, though; it was in response to a request made by Spears’ lawyer last November that Bessemer Trust be added as a co-conservator alongside the singer’s father, Jamie Spears. Britney Spears has stated through her lawyer, Samuel D. Ingram III, that she will not perform as long as her father remains a conservator of her $60 million estate.
“The conservator’s request to suspend James P. Spears immediately upon the appointment of Bessemer Trust Company of California as sole conservator of estate is denied without prejudice,” the court filing states, according to CNN.
On Wednesday, Jamie Spears’ attorneys filed court documents calling for an investigation into Britney Spears’ testimony last week, in which she alleged abuse, forced labor, forced medication, and lack of autonomy over her body and her ability to have children.
“The people who did this to me should not be able to get away and walk away easily,” she told the courtroom. “I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive.”
