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Jamie Spears files to step down as conservator of Britney Spears' estate

Jamie Spears on Thursday filed in Los Angeles Superior Court to step down as conservator of pop singer Britney Spears' $60 million estate after 13 years. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
1 of 5 | Jamie Spears on Thursday filed in Los Angeles Superior Court to step down as conservator of pop singer Britney Spears' $60 million estate after 13 years. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Jamie Spears, father of singer Britney Spears, filed Thursday to step down as conservator of his daughter's estate.

The decision, announced in Los Angeles Superior Court, comes after 13 years and court hearings in the past two months in which the 39-year-old singer has accused her father of conservator abuse including using her estate and finances for his own benefit and exerting his status as conservator to control her career and personal life.

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Jamie Spears' lawyer, Vivian Thoreen, wrote in the court document that there are "no actual grounds for suspending or removing" him from the conservatorship, adding "it is highly debatable whether a change in conservator at this time would be in Ms. Spears' best interests."

"Nevertheless, 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 states. "So 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."

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The singer's father has been the conservator of her $60 million estate since 2008 after she was placed on psychiatric hold.

Spears' attorney, Matthew Rosengart, said her legal team was "pleased" that her father had conceded he must be removed as conservator of his daughter's' estate.

"It is vindication for Britney. We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others," Rosengart said in a statement to CNN. "We look forward to continuing our vigorous investigation into the conduct of Mr. Spears, and others, over the past 13 years, while he reaped millions of dollars from his daughter's estate and I look forward to taking Mr. Spears's sworn deposition in the near future."

Spears, who had previously not been permitted to select her own attorney, hired Rosengart last month and filed a petition to remove her father as conservator of her estate and replace him with Jason Rubin.

Rosengart in a filing said that Jamie Spears has "profited handsomely" from being his daughter's conservator, writing that he took a 1.5% cut of the gross revenues and merchandise earnings on the singer's Las Vegas residency -- totaling at least $2.1 million -- as well as a 2.95% commission on her Femme Fatale tour in 2011, totaling approximately $500,000.

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In a June 23 hearing, Spears said she has faced abuse at the hands of her family and therapists such as being forced to go on tour and perform in a Las Vegas residency, placed on lithium against her will and prevented from removing an intrauterine device so she can have another child.

She also said she was "extremely scared" of her father and that the conservatorship "has allowed my dad to ruin my life."

Pop icon Britney Spears turns 43: a look back

Security personnel keep a watchful eye on zealous fans as Britney Spears arrives for the premiere of "Drive Me Crazy" in New York City on September 28, 1999. Earlier that year, Spears' "Baby One More Time" topped the Billboard singles and albums charts. Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI | License Photo

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