Attorney: “Britney Spears’ objects to father’s control”
Britney Spears expressed “strong desire” against her father’s temporary control over her affairs – including her $40 million fortune, a lawyer said in court Monday.
Her father’s conservatorship “would only cause further distress, agitation and estrangement,” said estate attorney Adam Streisand, who asserted he was hired by Spears over the weekend.
In addition, Streisand argued that co-temporary conservator Andrew Wallet “simply doesn’t have the knowledge” to manage Spears’s vast estate, which he valued at $40 million, he said at a hearing.
Streisand, who’s reportedly related to the singer of the same name, instead suggested that Northern Trust Bank be named as the temporary guardian of her wealth.
Jamie Spears, wearing a navy suit, was present in the courtroom, looked solemn, but did not speak.
His lawyers began with an opening statement asserting that Jamie Spears has no interest in taking her wealth, but rather watching over it until his daughter recovers, with the eventual hope she’s reunited with her children.
Wallet vehemently argued that the court be shown proof that Britney Spears was of sound mind to hire Streisand.
A court-appointed lawyer for Britney Spears was also present, and testified that he met with the singer at the hospital Sunday for about 10 minutes.
He added that in his opinion, the pop star “does not understand the nature of these proceedings” or their impact on her future. He added, “I think she’s lacks capacity” to hire a private lawyer.
It was also revealed by Jaime Spears’s attorneys that despite a restraining order issued Friday, the singer’s pal Sam Lutfi had “spoken to Ms. Spears by telephone.”
The father’s lawyers expressed difficulty at subpoenaing Lutfi with the order, saying he would not answer the door when a person came to serve him recently.
The court was then closed to the public, and no rulings of whether to replace her father as temporary conservator have been reached thus far.
