Britney Spears’ lawyer hits back at father for requesting she pay his legal fees
Her attorney called the request an "abomination"
By Joe Goggins
Britney Spears’ father is seeking for the singer to pay his legal fees relating to the end of her conservatorship.
Jamie Spears’ 13-year hold over his daughter’s finances and personal life was terminated last month at her request, after a lengthy legal battle. Now, he’s seeking the court’s “confirmation, authorization and direction” for Britney to pay for the fees he incurred attempting to maintain the conservatorship.
Per Variety, documents filed last week request that Britney’s estate make payments to his lawyers, who are “participating in proceedings concerning Jamie’s ongoing fiduciary duties relating to winding up”. The filing goes on to say that “prompt payment” is needed in order for the conservatorship to be “wound up quickly and efficiently to allow Britney to take control of her life as she and Jamie desire”.
The singer was required to pay her father’s legal fees while under the conservatorship, as she had been from 2008 until this November. Her father’s latest move prompted an angry response from her attorney, who called it an “abomination”. “Mr. Spears reaped many millions of dollars from Britney as a conservator, while paying his lawyers millions more, all from Britney’s work and hard earned money,” said Mathew Rosengart.
“The conservatorship has been terminated and Mr. Spears was suspended ignominiously,” her lawyer went on. “Under the circumstances, his petition is not only legally meritless, it is an abomination. Britney poignantly testified about the pain her father caused her and this only adds to it. This is not what a father who loves his daughter does.”
Back in July, as the legal tussle over the arrangement raged, Britney stated that she wished to see her father charged with conservatorship abuse, claiming that she had forbidden to make her own decisions about marriage, children and birth control. Her fans reacted with outrage to the allegations, having already sent the #FreeBritney hashtag viral in February after the release of the documentary ‘Framing Britney Spears’.
The termination of the conservatorship means she now controls her estimated $60 million estate, as well as her personal life, for the first time in 13 years. Last week, she cast doubt on her future as a touring artist, saying “I don’t think I ever want to do it again.”