Britney Spears’ father has made it clear he does not plan on stepping down from his position as conservator of his “mentally sick” daughter if he has anything to say about it.
Spears filed a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, hitting back against Britney’s attorney, Matthew Rosengart, who says his team will perform an audit to determine whether the singer’s earnings since the start of her conservatorship in 2008 have been mishandled.
The 68-year-old, according to Page Six, made it clear that he’s rejecting the efforts in having him removed as conservator of Britney’s multimillion-dollar estate, adding that he believes his daughter is in no state to look after herself and that if he was removed from his position, things would unravel rather rapidly.
In official court documents, Spears asserts he had a conversation with Britney’s co-conservator Jodi Montgomery on July 9, discussing the possibility of placing the “Lucky” hitmaker under a 5150 psychiatry hold.
Supposedly, Montgomery was concerned about her daughter's recent behavior, and expressed concern about whether she was still taking her medications.
"Ms. Montgomery felt that Ms. Spears was spiraling out of control,” Spears said in a court declaration.
He then went on to add that Montgomery soon retracted her comments, and insisted that a 5150 wasn’t necessary after all. He also argued that he can’t be blamed for putting his daughter in a mental health facility in 2019 against her will, as he had not been in control of her medical decisions in three years.
“Although I did not formally step down as Conservator of the Person until September 2019, I had not been in control of my daughter’s medical treatment since late 2018, when, due to my own personal health issues, I had to step back in this role.”
Instead, Mr. Spears blames Montgomery for forcing Britney into the mental health facility, which she has strongly denied, stressing that as co-conservator, she does not have the authority to dictate what Britney can and cannot do unless it’s signed off by her father.
"At no time did Ms. Montgomery express to Mr. Spears that Ms. Spears would currently qualify for such a hold,” a statement for Montgomery read. “The concern that Ms. Montgomery did raise to Mr. Spears during their telephone call is that forcing Ms. Spears to take the stand to testify or to have her evaluated would move the needle in the wrong direction for her mental health.
"Although Ms. Montgomery might have signed routine paperwork for the facility, she did so only as Case Manager and only at the direction of Jamie Spears. In fact, the decision to place Britney Spears in a facility in March 2019 was made by Ms. Spears’ treating psychiatrist at the time, Dr. Timothy Benson.”
Montgomery concludes that it’s in Britney’s best interest that her father immediately steps down as his daughter’s conservator.