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Britney Spears is once again asking the courts to replace her father as her estate curator – but at least one expert believes the latest filing is hardly in the pop star’s long-term best interests.
Britney’s newly appointed attorney, Mathew Rosengart, on Monday filed a motion to remove Jamie Spears from his post as the only curator of the pop star’s $ 60 million estate.
Rosengart – a former prosecutor and prominent Hollywood lawyer whose prominent clients include Ben Affleck and Steven Spielberg – recommended CPA accountant Jason Rubin as Jamie’s replacement. According to Rubin’s website, he “managed complex trust portfolios containing real estate and other financial assets worth over $ 35 million.”
A hearing to discuss Jamie’s impeachment, as well as Rubin’s potential appointment, has been set for December 13.
In the new brief, obtained by Yahoo Finance, the oversight is described as “increasingly toxic” and says the arrangement is “simply no longer tenable”.
The document adds that Jamie is unable to successfully manage Britney’s fortune, claiming that the Spears family had financial difficulties under her leadership and filed for bankruptcy in 1998.
The record also revealed how much money Jamie receives through guardianship, which includes a monthly allowance of $ 16,000, plus $ 2,000 per month for office expenses. He also received 1.5% of gross income from the singer’s Las Vegas residence, which grossed $ 137.7 million. Jamie’s cut alone was at least $ 2.1 million.
“It’s a profit center for him,” Benny Roshan, a Los Angeles-based attorney who chairs Greenberg Glusker’s trust and estate litigation group, told Yahoo Finance.
The lawyer explained that Britney’s legal team could argue that her father had a direct financial incentive to remain conservative of the estate. She added that they could ask the courts to reduce his monthly allowance or request that he no longer receive percentages from his concert tours.
Yahoo Finance has reached out to Jamie Spears’ legal team for comment, but has yet to hear back.
‘A step back’
Some “Free Britney” supporters have questioned why Rosengart did not file a petition to end the guardianship – and legal experts like Roshan have expressed similar concerns.
“Why ask for a change of director while keeping the prison sentence status quo?” Roshan asked of Greenberg Glusker.
“It feels like a step back,” she added.
In November of last year, Britney demanded that her father be removed from his role as sole keeper of the estate, but to no avail. Instead, the judge appointed financial firm Bessemer Trust as co-custodian, but the firm formally stepped down following Britney’s testimony in June.
Rosengart is now hoping for a different result.
Roshan suggests the filing hints at “a few skeletons in the closet,” with Jamie Spears likely to file an objection – yet again delaying the process.
However, there is another possibility that Rosengart wants to play it safe and “slowly cut corners” to the point where it is clear to the court that it is no longer necessary.
In recent weeks, financial firm Bessemer Trust, previously selected to serve as co-custodian of the pop star’s estate, along with former Spears court-appointed attorney Sam Ingham and even his longtime manager Larry Rudolph , have all resigned from their posts.
Britney received support from her mother, Lynne Spears, in the case which said Britney’s relationship with her father had “reduced to fear and hatred” because of Jamie’s behavior.
This includes Jamie’s “complete control over [Britney], distrust of her, his coercion towards her, his “barter” with her on what she can and cannot do for any reward or punishment he is willing to inflict, his constant threats and decision-making on every aspect of his life, “the file read.
Overall, Roshan believes the court needs to hear directly from Britney again. His emotional testimony in June finally granted him the freedom to choose his own lawyer.
“The judge has to see that Britney really wants to end this tutelage. She has to be out there and clear-headed,” Roshan said.
Alexandra is a producer and entertainment correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @ alliecanal8193
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