The walls around Britney Spears’s conservatorship appear to be crumbling by the minute. First her father Jamie Spears and Jodi Montgomery, currently sole conservator over the singer’s person, blamed each other for failures in the conservatorship after Britney’s explosive June 23 testimony to the court. And now Bessemer Trust, the private wealth-management company appointed to co-manage the singer’s assets along with her father, has asked the court to “immediately†allow it drop out of Britney’s conservatorship case.
Attorneys for Bessemer filed the “exigent†request on Thursday, July 1, in Los Angeles Superior Court, asking the court to allow it to resign “due to changed circumstances,†effective immediately. Bessemer’s request comes a day after the court formally appointed the financial institution to serve as the co-conservator of Britney’s estate. The appointment of Bessemer was originally agreed upon by all parties on November 10, 2020, but the appointment wasn’t official until June 30, when it was signed by Judge Brenda Penny. That same day, the judge denied Britney’s request to suspend her father for managing her money on Bessemer’s appointment. Britney, 39, has been under the control and care of a conservatorship, predominantly overseen by her father, since 2008.
It would seem, after hearing Britney’s explosive testimony on June 23 about wanting to end the conservatorship entirely and alleging other abuses, that Bessemer immediately wanted out. Jeff Glowacki, a managing director at Bessemer Trust, submitted a declaration to the court stating that he was personally contacted by Britney’s court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingham asking for the bank to act as co-conservator of Britney’s estate. He said when they originally agreed to come onboard, they were told that the conservatorship was “voluntary†and that Britney consented to the bank’s appointment. Glowacki said that after hearing Britney’s testimony, he learned that she not only objects to the continuance of the conservatorship, but also desires for it to end, according to his declaration filed with the court.
Glowacki personally signed Bessemer’s resignation letter on July 1, and attorneys representing the company filed an emergency petition with the court asking for them to be allowed to immediately drop out of the case. According to court documents filed by Bruce Ross, an attorney representing Bessemer, the company “heard [Britney] and respects her wishes,†and that due to these “changed circumstances [Bessemer] is tendering its resignation.†Ross also told the judge that, due to the fact Bessemer had just been formally appointed, had taken no action as her conservator, and had received no fees or any of her assets, the company wanted to immediately resign.
A hearing will be held on July 14 on whether to grant Bessemer’s request, the same day that Jamie Spears has asked the court to hold a formal hearing on Britney’s allegations of abuse and mistreatment under the conservatorship.