Britney Spears' legal battle with her father is becoming costly, and he wants her to foot the bill. Reports say Jamie Spears has filed a case demanding that the "toxic" singer's estate pay more than $3 million in legal fees, including almost $2 million to his attorneys, who are trying to keep the 39-year-conservatorship old's in place.
According to a source close to Britney Spears, this money would come from her estate if the judge allowed it, which would effectively mean she would be paying her own father's attorneys to defend her in court.
According to the elder Spears, the $3 million is for services provided between November 2019 and February 2020.
According to the source, "Britney's inner circle believes it is an unreasonable amount of money to ask for, particularly from someone who is currently unemployed and has confirmed that she has no plans to restart her career under her father's control."
Jamie, 68, demanded that he be paid $16,000 a month as co-conservator of the estate, and a $2,000 monthly office space lease, for a total of $288,000 over 16 months.
He also demanded $574,625 and $893,751 from his lawyers at Freeman, Freeman & Smiley LLP and Holland & Knight, respectively.
The Holland & Knight bill, in particular, contains payments of $500 to $900 per hour for the firm's marketing staff to respond to media inquiries about the Conservatorship.
Jamie's court documents said, "This Conservatorship has been the target of increasingly intense media attention both in conventional news media as well as on social media and even documentary films." It referred to fans' #FreeBritney initiative and the New York Times documentary "Framing Britney Spears," which premiered in February.
To protect the Conservatee's privacy, H&K has helped Mr. Spears cope with domestic and international media matters related to the Conservatorship.
The petition also requests fees of $378,333 to Britney's court-appointed counsel, Samuel D. Ingham III, and $238,272 to Loeb & Loeb, the law firm that Ingham retained to support him in the pop star's legal dispute.
Jamie has been in charge of Britney's multimillion-dollar estate since February 2008, when advisors put her under Conservatorship after her public breakdown. Before he stepped down in September 2019, citing health concerns, he also had control over her personal affairs, including her medical treatment.
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Britney Spears permanent conservator after Jamie Spears
Jodi Montgomery, a licensed fiduciary, briefly took over as Britney's conservator and has since taken measures to succeed him as requested by Britney Spears herself permanently. Montgomery has taken over as the permanent conservator of the pop star's personal affairs from his father, Jamie Spears.
Sam Ingham III filed the court papers on Wednesday, March 31, and the courts will review them at a hearing on April 27. Montgomery has been Britney's conservator since 2019 when she briefly replaced Jamie while he recovered from health problems. A judge recently extended Montgomery's temporary position until September 2021.
Jamie, on the other hand, is the co-conservator of her estate with Bessemer Trust. In November, Ingham hinted that Britney no longer wanted Jamie, 68, to be in charge of her personal affairs.
She was said to be "afraid" of her father. Vivian Lee Thoreen, Jamie's solicitor, has categorically refuted the charges. It is the first formal effort to make Jamie relinquish any control over the Conservatorship that has been in effect since 2008, following the performer's public breakdown.
