Bessemer Trust has officially requested to discontinue its role as co-conservator over Britney Spears’ estate amidst the pop star’s ongoing fight to end the conservatorship that has governed her life for the last 13 years.
The wealth management company, which was appointed to serve alongside the icon’s father Jamie Spears in the fall of 2020, filed the motion on July 1st citing “changed circumstances” surrounding the conservatorship, according to The New York Times. “As a result of the conservatee’s testimony at the June 23 hearing, however, the Petitioner has become aware that the Conservatee objects to the continuance of her Conservatorship and desires to terminate the conservatorship,” the company wrote in its filing. “Petitioner has heard the Conservatee and respects her wishes.”
The wealth management company also signaled that, while it had been approved to help oversee Britney’s estate, it had not yet taken any action in its role, nor had it received any of the pop star’s assets or been paid any fees.
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Bessemer Trust’s withdrawal request occurred just hours after Judge Brenda Penny approved the company as co-conservator, while at the same time formally denying Britney’s request to have her father removed as conservator for the time being. The timeline can be a bit hard to follow for those of us who aren’t experts in legalese; that specific ruling was tied to the hearing from last November, though it’s notable that the judge signed off on it after hearing Spears’ harrowing remarks from the June 23rd hearing.
As of today, Spears’ court-appointed lawyer has yet to formally petition the court to terminate the conservatorship, though Montgomery has announced she will be presenting a care plan to the court as a “path” to ending the legal control over the singer’s life.
In the wake of Spears’ public testimony, everyone from Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey to Christina Aguilera and the pop star’s younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears have spoken out in support of her fight for freedom.
