Why Jamie Spears Finally Decided To Give Up His Conservatorship [UPDATED]

There is major news in the #FreeBritney movement. Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has agreed to step down as her conservator. Ever since the latest legal wrangling began, this has been so the main focus for Britney and her legal team. It’s frankly a bit of a surprise as up to now, Jamie has seemed determined to remain in place as her conservator. So why did he give up now?

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‘In Her Best Interest’

According to the court filing this afternoon in the Los Angeles court where this battle has been playing out, Jamie’s team says, “Even as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests.”

The filing goes on to say, “Even though he must contest this unjustified Petition for his removal, Mr. Spears intends to work with the Court and his daughter’s new attorney to prepare for an orderly transition to a new conservator.” In the end, the biggest piece of this legal battle seems to have ended in a whimper, rather than a bang. Jamie is out, but he intends to try to make sure Spears remains under the care of a conservator. As of yet, Britney and her team have not commented on where they intend to go from here.

Update: According to People, Jamie Spears is not yet ready to relinquish his position as conservator. His attorney reportedly filed new documents that said although “there are, in fact, no actual grounds for suspending or removing Mr. Spears as the Conservator of the Estate,” there is a path for relieving Jamie of his duties.

“Mr. Spears is willing to step down when the time is right, but the transition needs to be orderly and include a resolution of matters pending before the Court. In order to reach that result, the Court should encourage all interested parties to meet and confer in order to resolve those pending matters in the best interests of Ms. Spears,” the filing said.

The documents also say that the senior Spears still fully intends to go along with the change and work with both the court and his daughter’s new lawyer to transition to a new conservator, so this looks to be a still-developing story.