Last week, Britney Spears removed her sons from an abusive situation involving her father Jamie Spears. Jamie Spears allegedly assaulted his 13-year-old grandson and his other grandson witnessed the assault. Kevin Federline and his lawyer sought and received an emergency restraining order against Jamie Spears, and as TMZ reported a few days later, Federline was also looking to push Jamie off of Britney Spears’ conservatorship because of this situation. How could Britney have any kind of partial custody of the boys if Jamie Spears, as her conservator, is required to be there for Britney? So… this happened on Friday:
Jamie Spears wants out as his daughter’s conservator, at least through January 20, 2020. According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ, Jamie is asking “to temporarily relinquish the powers of conservatorship … due to personal health reasons.” Jamie wants a temporary conservator … Jodi Montgomery, whom he describes as Britney’s care manager over the last year … who he says has the ability to take on the responsibilities.
As we reported, Jamie’s team believed Kevin Federline and/or Lynne Spears might try and challenge his conservatorship, in the wake of the criminal investigation regarding Jamie’s confrontation with Britney’s 13-year-old son, Sean. According to the docs, Jamie is asking the judge to give Montgomery the same powers he has, which includes —
The power to restrict or limit visitors by any means.
The power to retain caretakers and security for Britney on a 24-hour basis.
The power to prosecute civil harassment restraining orders.
The power to communicate with expert medical personnel regarding Britney and to have full access to her medical and psychiatric records.Montgomery has already consented to act as the temporary conservator. Jamie wants a hearing expedited to next Monday. He also indicated Britney is “able but unwilling” to attend the hearing. He also says she does not want to contest the proceeding and does not object to temporarily appointing Montgomery as conservator. Jamie has battled intestinal issues for nearly a year and was in serious condition late last year. His colon had ruptured and he underwent multiple surgeries.
TMZ did a follow-up saying that Lynn Spears – Jamie’s ex-wife and Britney’s mom – wants to be involved in these conversations too. While Britney is “able but unwilling” to go to court, Lynn wants to be there, and Lynn might make a move to take over as Britney’s conservator. Many people believe that Lynn has wanted that for a while. I… don’t think it will happen. As for Jamie stepping away… he’s trying to make it sound like it’s his choice, but Kevin and his lawyer must have really applied some major pressure. I also think it’s interesting and sad that Britney won’t be going to the hearing – she likely does not want to see her father at the moment. That’s the man who hurt her child. She shouldn’t be forced to be controlled by him. But I’m not sure being controlled by her business manager is much better.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Instagram.
This seems like a bait and switch move to get Federline off his back i.e. he steps down momentarily and then re-convinces Britney at a later date that he is her best bet.
The sad fact is, they have all parasited off her over the years to the point of her worsening mental health. I cannot wait till both kids reach majority.
Interesting. Colon issues don’t cause you to break down a door and shake your grandson, though. Something else sure seems to be going on with Jamie.
Who knows what really caused it, but in some cases of advancing dementia causes increased aggression.
He was an alcoholic when Britney was growing up, so some think he has relapsed.
Alec Baldwin is sober and he is a rageaholic. I don’t think assuming that he relapsed just cuz he was abusive is realistic. Sober people can be controlling, abusive a-holes too.
my mom had colon cancer and got very angry and irrational before being diagnosed. she ended up with stage 3b and died less than one year after being diagnosed.
This is very true. Sometimes people dealing with serious/ life threatening illness have bouts of random anger. I’m not saying it’s right; it’s just possible. My mom never got violent while she was battling breast cancer; but she certainly exhibited spurts of anger that I hadn’t really seen from her before.
I hope they keep Lynn away.
That woman was selling her daughter out in 2007.
Lynn is a good portion of the reason that Brit was in as much mess as she was. Enabler who loved to sell her daughter out. Jamie’s not a ton better, but at least he was interested in getting her on some kind of treatment plan. I genuinely hope they keep Lynn away. She seems like a real piece of garbage.
Indeed, Lynne enabled the worst of Britney’s behaviour and those handlers around her. Lynne was encouraging Brit to date older boys when she was a teenager, she also encouraged her to party to get attention. Many of Brit’s problem stem from how pushy and obsessed with using Brit to get out of poverty in Louisiana. Lynne wrote several tell all books about Brit as she wanted fame and fortune for herself – she also bled Brit dry financially buying herself several million pound homes.
If Lynne is put in charge it will not end well for Britney. And yeah part of me kinda thinks KFed wants in on it was well. In a few years his gravy train will end and he will have to financially support his large family on his own. Remember neither he or his wife have jobs and he has tried several times before to shake Brit down to pay for his other kids to have the same education etc.. as her sons – why should she pay for his other kids.
Why not hand the conservatorship to KWellFed? He’s intimately familiar with the situation, and it’s not as if he has a job or other pressing responsibilities. At least this way, he would appear to be earning the dole she’s been paying to support him and his six children and wife for the last decade plus.
Because an ex husband should not have control over a women’s money and/or mental health decisions.
Definitely not.
It needs to be someone independent who can look at the whole situation and make the best decisions for Britney, and for the kids.
He can’t be trusted either – despite the fact he’s a hands on father. He’s an ex for a reason.
The quoted text says Jodi Montgomery is a care manager, not a business manager. I don’t see a problem with it. At some point somebody will have to take over from Jamie Spears anyway.
I agree, Allie. It isn’t ideal, but a stranger will be taking over eventually. If Montgomery is her care manager, she should be someone who has Britney’s medical interests in mind. Still stifling for Britney, I’m sure, but she needs someone who prioritizes her health. No matter who the executor is, her fortune will be drained for her care.
To add even more complications TMZ is reporting that Brit’s main medical doctor died suddenly Aug 25. The timing is not good considering that the Court is awaiting medical and psychiatric reports on the singer soon.
I’m addition TMZ seems to be insinuating that when Britney was feeling great and planning a new show and suddenly she just fell apart, that it
might have something to do with his care, as he might not have been the right Doc for the job.
Hoo boy…who knows what ‘s really gong on here. Britney obviously wants out of her conservatorship badly. Would she make up this incident to make Jamie look bad? Would KFed and Lynne help her to make Jamie look bad in order to get their mitts on B’s money ? Maybe. But it’s also possible that Jamie is an abusive a$$hole. It’s just a mess. I feel bad for her boys either way. They have really been through it in their short time on the earth.
Uhhhhh….Jamie did not fight the story that he abused his grandson, the temporary restraining order & has opted to step down in the conservatorship after the assault. Why, oh why, are people grasping that Britney (and Kfed & her two kids) is making this up?! There will always be those people that victim blame whenever a story comes out about abuse.
What is more likely possible then anything else, is the events that none of them are contradicting happened. But kudos for throwing poor Jamie a bone.
WHy not her little sister? That’s the one I dont get as not being the immediate conservator over her parasite parents.
I don’t think she really wants that responsibility. It’s all well and good to say that she could do it… but maybe she doesn’t want to live her life (with two kids now) having to care for her adult sister. I mean, it sucks. It genuinely does suck. But I don’t think anyone should be pushing for her to take it over unless she actively seeks to do so. It’s not her job.
For the same reason it shouldn’t go to her kids once they turn 18: because conservatorships are demanding, time sucking and it’s not everyone that has the energy, funds, knowledge and time to manage something as complicated as Brit’s conservatorship. It’s one thing to act as conservator for a 80-something with dementia where you mostly have to make sure they’re well treated during the few years they have left, but a 40yo is a whole other story
This is speculation based in absolutely nothing except some vague prior experience, but I wonder if the intestinal issues are due to painkiller abuse. My best friend’s mom was abusIng oxy as well as Imodium (I guess if you take enough you can get pretty high), and she backed her bowels up so badly they burst. Then they put her on painkillers to manage the post-surgery pain and she’s back to abusIng and making herself sick again. It’s a vicious cycle, and it might explain Jamie’s irrational behavior of late.
Alcohol can do the same thing, and it’s well know that her dad is an alcoholic.
Lynn doesn’t need to be the conservator either. Both of her parents are vultures and have been her whole life. It needs to be outside people. And if it has to be someone in her family, it should be her older brother. But I don’t know if he wants that responsibility.
Should anyone really be given the control over Britney at this point? I don’t know what the solution is, but it doesn’t feel right that she’s being “passed” around from one person to the next especially when the selection seems to be people who have taken advantage and manipulated her in the past. She really has had a very sad life.
^^^ This. I don’t know her diagnosis, but I keep hearing bipolar being said. I’M bipolar as is one of my best friends. We live independently without caretakers. I realize I don’t know Britney’s real situation, but it feels like access to her children is being held out like a dangling carrot and she’s being used on all sides. It doesn’t sit right with me.
@Shannon I agree, although it could be Britney has a more severe form of BP disorder. However my suspicion is she has some sort of schizo-effective or Personality disorder ( likely induced by the trauma of being prayed on all her life by various family members, ex-husbands and those with an interest in her financially).
Also the fact that KFed has always had primary custody suggests that her condition is quite not always stable.
It truly breaks my heart that the primary concern of those closest to her always boils down to how to exploit her. Britney will always be the loser in this horrible saga.
I wish the conservators could be a relative + a few health professionals or a removed third party. Given how much money Britney has it just seems like a situation where she could be exploitated.
Yes yes yes. A team. One family member, one health care professional, and a professional trustee/conservator.
This following question has been asked several times around here, but I’ll ask again: wouldn’t it be possible to appoint a third party as the conservator? Someone who has no ties to Britney or any of her family members?
Yes, a third party could be appointed. It happens all the time in elder person conservatorships when there is simply no one qualified to be appointed. Same issues and problems can arise, though, as to financial abuse. But if the court is doing their job in overseeing the conservatorship/guardianship, a third party can be a good option (especially if a bond is ordered/put in place).
Seems that would be the best solution in the long run. Let’s hope at the hearing today the judge realizes this and puts the plan into motion. A third party who is impartial, unrelated and qualified to do the job. Her mother isn’t an option IMO as Britney has had a contentious relationship with her at best for most of her life. And also too Lynne seems to come out of the woodwork when Britney is at her most vulnerable. Sad thing for a mother to do.
Does anyone know how unusual it is to need a conservator at her young age? She must really be disabled mentally, I really can’t imagine.
My best friend is the conservator for her older sister who is in her early 40s (we are both 38). The sister is bipolar and when she feels great she stops taking her meds and using her therapy tools. She puts herself and the people around her in danger bc that’s where she feels most comfortable. My friend has been fighting to get a state conservator so she can be released from it bc it’s a terrible position to be put in. She loves her sister, but when the sister is spiraling she lashes out physically and has hurt my friend. She’s robbed her and had drug dealers come to her door trying to shake her down. Mostly bc the sister has communicated how resentful she is of having someone oversee her financial and medical well being. My friend has two elementary school kids and having to deal with whatever trouble the sister sends her way is making her resentful. So it’s better for a third party to take over. The states been unwilling to appoint someone for the last three years so it probably won’t transfer unless one of their brothers wants to take it in. It’s a sad situation for everyone involved.
Why can’t her conservatorship go to her therapist or her lawyers? I think the WORST idea is to give it to a biased family member. Not her mom, not her dad, definitely not her sister who adores her and would allow her to be too free. They are slowly killing Britney.
This situation is so sad for Britney who is the main victim here. There is so much we don’t know about her condition. One thing is very clear though: the court needs to appoint an unbiased, honest third party to be her conservator. Whatever you want to say about her Dad, Jamie, he did step in back in 2008 and save Britney. At 67, battling serious health issues and given the latest charges that he “violently shook” Sean a few weeks back, he clearly is not the man for the job. Neither is her mother, Lynne. First thing’s first, Britney needs to find a good doctor who can stabilize her medications and get her back to a good place. No one wants to see Britney experience another breakdown like the one she had in 2008. Over the last several years, Britney has been a wonderful mother who obviously loves and adores her boys. And say what you will about her challenges with her bipolar disorder: she’s always worked hard and she’s shown Sean and Jayden what it’s like to have a strong work ethic.
Sometimes conservatorships are a necessity. My grandmother has conservatorship over my aunt, who is bi-polar and exhibits extremely self destructive behavior. My aunt could not and should not be responsible for her own care. Without my grandmother as her total care giver, she would harm herself or others.
I obviously don’t know anything about Jamie Spears or any of these people, but for those just saying Brittany doesn’t need a conservator anymore, that doesn’t sound realistic.
Judges don’t grant conservatorships lightly. That said, after 10 years, it was good to see this past spring that the judge ordered a review of the original conservator agreement.
No one in the public really knows the nature or the extent of Britney’s mental health issues beyond her well publicized breakdown in early 2008 and the fact that she’s bi-polar. Everything else is speculation and rumor.
The big mystery has always been how she’s been under a conservatorship for the past decade but is still capable of doing a grueling work schedule that included concert tours, Las Vegas residencies and lucrative sponsorship deals.
No one is really sure what triggered Britney’s most recent mental health crisis. Certainly she is chafing under the restraints of the conservatorship and wants more freedom. A person’s mental and physical health constantly changes. People do develop tolerance to medications. There were rumors that Britney’s meds stopped working and/or were no longer effective.
Fortunately, Britney does seem physically healthy and she’s always liked to work out and be active. So that’s a plus. I hope she gets the help she needs.
This just seems like an attempt to step way until the dust settles. It does seem like a long-term plan needs to be put in place though. If he is as sick as what’s been reported, then he needs to come up with a plan b to care for Britney. Obviously her mom, sister or her boyfriend are not the right choices. Doesn’t she have a brother?
Amanda Bynes is also under conservatorship with her parents as conservators. I often wonder if they have similar diagnoses.