Britney Spears' father could be in for a 'world of legal pain'

Britney Spears' father has officially been suspended from her conservatorship after 13 years. Could he now be facing a "world of legal pain"?

Legal analyst Lisa Green suggested as much Thursday after a judge officially granted the pop star's request to suspend her father, Jamie Spears, as conservator of her estate. The conservatorship, which Britney Spears has decried as "abusive," still hasn't ended yet. But the judge temporarily named John Zabel, a certified public accountant, as the new conservator of her estate after the singer's lawyer nominated him for that position.

One major implication of this, Green explained on Today, is that Zabel will have access to key documents pertaining to the conservatorship, which comes as Britney Spears' lawyer has vowed to investigate her father.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

"A neutral CPA is now going to have access to all the books and records, every financial decision Jamie made, decisions I'm sure he never thought would be scrutinized," Green said. "That could end up in probate court. In civil court, a potential fraud claim."

All in all, Green said this decision could mean "potentially a world of legal pain for Jamie Spears."

This was seemingly part of the reason Britney Spears' attorney, Matthew Rosengart, urged the judge to suspend Jamie Spears before ending the conservatorship, while Jamie Spears was fighting against his suspension despite calling for the conservatorship itself to be terminated. Rosengart suggested this was because Jamie Spears "knows that when he is suspended he must turn over the conservatorship files," and Rosengart has vowed to conduct a "vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years."

There's also the matter of the recent allegations in a New York Times documentary that a security firm hired by Jamie Spears secretly monitored Britney Spears, including in her bedroom. "If those eavesdropping allegations are true," Green said on Today, "that's a crime in California."