Company Appointed To Co-Manage Britney's Finances Resigns After Her Testimony
Bessemer Trust said it was respecting Britney Spears’ wishes by resigning as co-conspirator, but the move leaves Jamie Spears as her sole financial conservator once again
The updates in Britney Spears’s conservatorship battle just keep coming. On Wednesday, a Los Angeles judge denied Brit’s request from last November to have her father removed as her financial conservator, but agreed that giving Jamie Spears complete control over the singer’s finances was too much. The judge’s ruling put Bessemer Trust, a financial company, into an official co-conservatorship alongside Jamie Spears, where both entities would share control over Britney’s finances. Yesterday, though, Bessemer Trust filed a motion to withdraw as co-conservator, citing Britney’s explosive and heartbreaking court testimony last week as the reason.
“Petitioner has heard the Conservatee and respects her wishes,” Bessemer Trust wrote in the document, which referenced Britney’s request last week to end the conservatorship that she called “oppressive” and “abusive.”
Bessemer Trust was appointed to the co-conservatorship role in November by Judge Brenda Penney, but interestingly, Penney didn’t officially file the paperwork to make the change until Wednesday, a week after Britney gave her court testimony. In their motion to withdraw, Bessemer Trust said they had not yet received any assets or been given official authorization to take any action as co-conservator. They also said they had not yet been paid any fees from Britney’s estate.
“In originally consenting to its appointment, Petitioner relied on the representations of the parties that the ongoing Conservatorship was voluntary, and that all parties, including the Conservatee, had consented to Petitioner acting as Co-Conservator of the Estate,” Bessemer Trust wrote in its motion to withdraw. “As a result of the Conservatee’s testimony at the June 23 hearing, however, Petitioner has become aware that the Conservatee objects to the continuance of her Conservatorship and desires to terminate the Conservatorship.”
The company’s withdrawal from the role still needs to be approved by the court before it becomes official.
This is a concerning development. While it’s great that Bessemer Trust listened to what Britney wants and respected her wishes, this move would leave Jamie Spears as the sole conservator of her finances, something she has been very clear about not wanting. She’s repeatedly asked the courts, since 2014, to remove him from her conservatorship entirely in favor of someone more neutral. In previous court appearances, Britney has said that she’s “afraid” of her father, and she’s refused to return to performing for as long as he retains his control over her life and finances.
