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      Britney Spears Asks to Address Court Overseeing Her Conservatorship

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      A lawyer for the singer told the judge presiding in her case that Spears was seeking to speak to the court on an “expedited basis.”Britney Spears has something to say.After years of relative silence regarding the court-approved conservatorship that has controlled much of her life since 2008, a lawyer for the pop singer requested on Tuesday that Spears be allowed to speak at a hearing soon.“The conservatee has requested that I seek from the court a status hearing at which she can address the court directly,” Samuel D. Ingham III, the court-appointed lawyer who represents Spears in her conservatorship, asked the judge overseeing the case. He proposed that the hearing be scheduled on an “expedited basis,” preferably within 30 days.The judge, Brenda Penny, agreed, and she set the hearing regarding the status of the conservatorship for June 23. An additional hearing in the case was scheduled for July.The request on behalf of Spears came during a remote virtual meeting in the case that mostly amounted to housekeeping between lawyers. But the possibility that the typically shrouded pop star would address the court represented a shift for Spears, who has rarely commented on the case for more than a decade.It would mark the first time Spears has done so in court since seeking substantial changes to the conservatorship, including the removal of her father, Jamie Spears, from what had been a leading role in the arrangement.For years, fans and observers have questioned why the singer was in a conservatorship, sometimes known as a guardianship, at all, with some arguing that she was being held against her will or taken advantage of. Conservatorships are typically reserved for the very ill, old or infirm, but Spears continued to perform and bring in millions of dollars.Conversation around Spears’s situation — fueled in part by the fans calling themselves the #FreeBritney movement — picked up earlier this year following the release of “Framing Britney Spears,” a TV documentary by The New York Times.Spears has been in a conservatorship for 13 years, following a prolonged public breakdown that required multiple hospitalizations. Her exact medical diagnosis is not known.Outside of the courtroom, Spears has referred only obliquely to her legal situation, assuring fans concerned about her well-being that she was “totally fine.”“I’m extremely happy, I have a beautiful home, beautiful children,” Spears said on Instagram this month. “I’m taking a break right now because I’m enjoying myself.”Things have been more contentious in court filings, where Ingham has said that Spears was “strongly opposed” to her father returning as her personal conservator.Jamie Spears currently serves as a co-conservator of his daughter’s estate, helping to oversee her finances alongside Bessemer Trust, a corporate fiduciary. Previously, Jamie had also served as Britney’s personal conservator, helping to arrange her medical and mental health care, security and more. He stepped down from that role in September 2019, citing health problems.The singer had requested that Jodi Montgomery, a licensed professional conservator, remain in the role that she has held temporarily since 2019. Ingham has said that Spears was “afraid of her father,” and would not perform if he remained in charge.Spears’s mother, Lynne, has also raised questions regarding $890,000 in legal fees for Jamie Spears, which her lawyers have called “procedurally improper” and “utterly excessive.” (Lawyers for Jamie Spears responded: “She has not been involved in her daughter’s conservatorship until very recently, and she is now raising objections to fees related to matters that she has no knowledge of.”)Vivian Lee Thoreen, a lawyer for Jamie Spears, has said that the singer’s father “diligently and professionally carried out his duties,” and that his daughter’s safety was his top priority.Jamie Spears “would love nothing more than to see Britney not need a conservatorship,” Thoreen said in March.“Whether or not there is an end to the conservatorship really depends on Britney,” she added. “If she wants to end her conservatorship, she can file a petition to end it.”Louis Keene and Samantha Stark contributed reporting. More

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      Another Possible Aretha Franklin Will Surfaces in Estate Dispute

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAnother Possible Aretha Franklin Will Surfaces in Estate DisputeLawyers for two of the singer’s sons say the document was in the files of a law firm she had engaged to help her with estate planning.Aretha Franklin was initially thought to have died without a will, but now still another document that may  represent her last wishes has been found.Credit…Paul Natkin/Getty ImagesMarch 11, 2021Updated 6:08 p.m. ETThe estate of Aretha Franklin just got a bit more complicated.When the legendary singer died at 76 in 2018, her family assumed she had no will. Then, nine months later, a few handwritten documents, which may represent two or even three wills, were found in Franklin’s home, leading to a dispute among her four sons over how her estate should be run and its assets divided.Now, a detailed document has emerged that lawyers for two of Franklin’s sons say is a draft of yet another will, from Ms. Franklin’s final years. The papers, filed in a Michigan court this week, include an eight-page document, titled “The Will of Aretha Franklin” and apparently drawn up in 2018, along with another 23 pages that lay out the terms of a trust.Both are stamped “draft,” and neither document has her signature.According to the lawyers in their filing, Ms. Franklin had retained a Detroit lawyer, Henry M. Grix, to help with her estate planning. The filing includes correspondence from Mr. Grix, dated December 2017, in which he summarizes an estate plan for Ms. Franklin, asks her some questions and refers to earlier discussions between them. The filing includes further handwritten notes, said to be from Ms. Franklin, in which she lists family members and other lawyers, along with her properties.The filing, by lawyers for her sons Ted White Jr. and Clarence Franklin, says the documents show that Ms. Franklin had been in discussions with Mr. Grix “for over two years,” and that the correspondence included her initials. After Ms. Franklin “fell very ill,” they said, another lawyer informed Mr. Grix that she was unable to sign.It is not clear how the document would affect ongoing negotiations over the estate, which has an estimated worth of as much as $80 million. The discovery of the handwritten wills upset the peace among Ms. Franklin’s sons and led to the resignation of her niece, Sabrina Owens, as executor.The new draft will would establish a trust to benefit Clarence, who has a mental illness, and would otherwise largely split Ms. Franklin’s assets among her three other sons, Mr. White and Kecalf and Edward Franklin, along with specific bequests to other relatives. That would not differ much from the likely outcome in the event Ms. Franklin had no will at all; in that case, under Michigan law, her estate would simply be divided among her four children.But the new draft will does call into question the handwritten documents found previously. The latest of those, dated 2014, would give a greater share to Kecalf, Ms. Franklin’s youngest son, and less to Clarence. A trial to determine whether any of the handwritten documents should be formally declared a will, and thus govern the estate, is set for August.The filing this week says little about how the draft documents were found. But in response to questions from The New York Times, Joseph P. Buttiglieri, a lawyer who represents the guardian for Clarence Franklin, said the documents had been turned over late last year in response to a subpoena.The filing actually says the documents were discovered in 2019, but Mr. Buttiglieri said that was a mistake.“The file was received by my office in response to a subpoena on or about Dec. 18, 2020,” Mr. Buttiglieri added. He declined to elaborate further.Mr. Grix declined to comment.Although the document was not signed by Ms. Franklin, under Michigan law it could be accepted as a valid will, said David P. Lucas, a lawyer in Battle Creek, Mich., who is the chair of the probate and estate planning section of the State Bar of Michigan, and is not involved with Ms. Franklin’s case.“If the person who wants this to be Aretha Franklin’s will can prove in court by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Franklin wanted this to be her will,” Mr. Lucas said, “then yes, the court may decide that this is her will.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Britney Spears’s Father Says He Hopes She Won’t Need a Conservatorship

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Britney Spears’s Legal BattleControl of Spears’s Estate‘We’re Sorry, Britney’Justin Timberlake ApologizesWatch ‘Framing Britney Spears’ in the U.S.AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBritney Spears’s Father Says He Hopes She Won’t Need a ConservatorshipThe father’s lawyer shared his opinions on the conservatorship on CNN and NBC News recently, almost a month after a documentary examining the arrangement was released.Jamie Spears, left, Britney Spears’s father, has been one of her conservators for more than a decade. He’s telling his side of the story, through a lawyer, on television.Credit…Associated PressMarch 3, 2021Updated 2:48 p.m. ETAs the legal battle and public fallout over Britney Spears’s finances and personal life continue, a lawyer for her father, Jamie Spears, has told CNN that Jamie “would love nothing more than to see Britney not need a conservatorship.”The comments came not long after “Framing Britney Spears,” a TV documentary by The New York Times, released last month, revisited the details of the conservatorship that has shaped this pop singer’s life. Since it aired, Jamie Spears’s lawyer has sought to tell her client’s side of the story on national television programs, including “Good Morning America” last week and NBC News this week.The #FreeBritney campaign, which was also explored in the documentary, has for years campaigned to portray the conservatorship arrangement as an unjust means to control Spears’s life and finances.On Tuesday night, Vivian Lee Thoreen, Jamie Spears’s lawyer, defended the singer’s conservatorship to NBC News.“Britney being safe and not being taken advantage of is his No. 1 priority,” Thoreen said about Jamie Spears as Britney Spears’s co-conservator.Spears has been in a conservatorship, or guardianship, since 2008, after a series of public meltdowns captured by paparazzi. The complicated arrangement designates a representative to manage someone’s personal affairs and their estate if they are unable to care for themselves or if they are vulnerable to outside manipulation.Thoreen told CNN that Jamie Spears “would love nothing more than to see Britney not need a conservatorship.”“Whether or not there is an end to the conservatorship really depends on Britney,” Thoreen added. “If she wants to end her conservatorship, she can file a petition to end it.”Thoreen, who once represented Jamie Spears before the documentary, has rejoined his legal team. She did not return calls seeking comment on Tuesday.In the documentary, though, she told The Times: “Of the cases I’ve been involved in, I have not seen a conservatee who has successfully terminated a conservatorship.”Jamie Spears has been one of his daughter’s conservators for more than a decade, controlling crucial aspects of her life such as her finances and her mental health care. In 2019, citing health problems, he walked back his role, and a professional conservator filled in temporarily.Britney Spears’s court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, made clear for the first time in a court filing in August that the singer “strongly opposed” having her father as the conservator. Spears had rarely commented on her conservatorship. Ingham, who declined to comment on Tuesday, said at that hearing that Britney Spears believed that the conservatorship “must be changed substantially in order to reflect the major changes in her current lifestyle and her stated wishes.”Then, at a hearing in November, Ingham said that Britney Spears would not perform again as long as her father was in charge of her career. “My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father,” he told the judge.The judge, Brenda Penny, fulfilled a request by Britney Spears that Bessemer Trust, a corporate fiduciary, be added as a co-conservator. But Judge Penny did not remove Jamie Spears as a conservator of Spears’s estate. Britney Spears and her father were back in court on Feb. 11, but the judge did not order any substantive changes.In the week after the release of The Times’s documentary, some media outlets responded with apologies for their past coverage of Spears’s mental health, mothering skills and sexuality. Spears’s former boyfriend Justin Timberlake also apologized to her after the documentary re-examined their breakup.Joe Coscarelli and Julia Jacobs contributed reporting.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Aretha Franklin’s Estate Signs Tentative Deal Over Back Taxes Owed

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAretha Franklin’s Estate Signs Tentative Deal Over Back Taxes OwedWhile the estate continues to dispute the amount sought by the I.R.S., it has agreed to pay or put aside the bulk of its earnings from royalties and other revenue streams.Aretha Franklin’s estate will set aside 45 percent of all revenue it receives to pay off the tax liability she accrued from 2010 to 2017.Credit…Ross Marino/Getty ImagesMarch 2, 2021The estate of Aretha Franklin has reached a deal with the Internal Revenue Service to pay off millions of dollars in federal income taxes that the singer owed during her life, resolving a major financial issue that has been hanging over the estate since Ms. Franklin died in 2018.Under the agreement, which must be approved by the judge overseeing Ms. Franklin’s probate case, the estate will set aside 45 percent of all revenue it receives from now on to pay off the tax liability that Ms. Franklin accrued from 2010 to 2017.An initial payment of $800,000 is to be made to the I.R.S. within five days of the deal’s approval by the judge, Jennifer S. Callaghan of Oakland County Probate Court in Michigan, according to the document submitted in court on Feb. 19. It was signed by the estate’s executor and lawyers for Ms. Franklin’s four sons, as well as by a legal officer at the I.R.S.The document reports the I.R.S.’s claim against the estate as totaling $7.8 million, but that figure apparently does not reflect about $3 million that the estate already declared that it paid at the end of 2018.The deal also lays out a plan as to how the estate will handle ongoing taxes and payments to Ms. Franklin’s heirs. The agreement says 40 percent of the estate’s revenues — which are generated by Ms. Franklin’s music royalties and licensing, as well as from Hollywood productions like a biopic starring Jennifer Hudson — will be held in escrow. That money is being set aside to cover state and federal taxes owed by the estate, as well as estimated taxes owed by heirs.The remaining 15 percent of the revenues are to be used to cover the estate’s administration costs, up to $1 million — any income beyond that point will be paid out in equal amounts to Ms. Franklin’s sons: Edward, Kecalf and Clarence Franklin, and Ted White Jr. The deal also calls for those four men to be paid $50,000 each within five days of the stipulation’s approval.If approved, the deal would remove one of the estate’s biggest hurdles and allow some income to flow regularly to Ms. Franklin’s heirs, even though a detailed plan for the distribution of her assets remains a matter of dispute.The value of Ms. Franklin’s estate has not been decided, but some estimates range as high as $80 million.Since her death, and the discovery of multiple wills she created, there has been disagreement and court fights about exactly who are her heirs, and what were the famed singer’s final wishes in providing for her family.Initially, when Ms. Franklin died in August 2018, at age 76, her family believed she had left no will. Lawyers who represented her said they had tried in vain to get her to write one. Under the law in Michigan, Ms. Franklin’s longtime home, that meant her estate would be divided equally among her children. Ms. Franklin’s sons unanimously nominated a cousin, Sabrina Owens, a University of Michigan administrator who was close to Ms. Franklin, to be the estate’s personal representative, or executor.But nine months later, while going through Ms. Franklin’s Detroit home, Ms. Owens found handwritten documents — one of them was in a spiral notebook under the sofa cushions — that appeared to be two wills. In them, Ms. Franklin criticized various people in her life, including a lawyer, an accountant and the father of one of her sons, and specified how her assets should be split up among her children and grandchildren — in some cases, giving her descendants less money than they would have received if there was no will.That discovery immediately divided Ms. Franklin’s family, with some of her sons asking the court to favor one document or another, and led to the removal last year of Ms. Owens as the estate’s personal representative. She has been replaced by Reginald M. Turner, a Detroit lawyer who is the president-elect of the American Bar Association. Mr. Turner declined comment, saying it would not be appropriate for him to discuss estate matters.The question of whether Ms. Franklin’s wills are valid, and, if so, which of them would govern her estate, is set to be litigated at a trial scheduled to begin in August.The estate is still disputing the tax bill and the agreement with the I.R.S. specifies that if the estate is successful in arguing that a lesser amount is owed, any overpayments would be returned for distribution to the heirs.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      5 Questions About Britney Spears, Answered

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      5 Questions About Britney Spears, AnsweredMario Anzuoni/ReutersFollowing the release of the documentary “Framing Britney Spears,” there’s been renewed attention on the pop star’s battle with her father, Jamie Spears, over control of her personal well-being and finances.I’ve been following the case closely. Here’s what you should know → More

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      Control of Britney Spears’s Estate Debated at Court Hearing

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Britney Spears’s Legal BattleControl of Spears’s Estate‘We’re Sorry, Britney’Justin Timberlake ApologizesWatch ‘Framing Britney Spears’ in the U.S.AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyControl of Britney Spears’s Estate Debated at Court HearingLawyers for the pop star and her father, from whom she is estranged, discussed how he would share management of her finances with a corporate fiduciary.Fans of Britney Spears returned to a courthouse in Los Angeles on Thursday to argue in favor of ending the conservatorship that now directs her life and finances. Credit…Mike Blake/ReutersJoe Coscarelli and Published More

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      'Framing Britney Spears' Filmmakers Talk About Their Process

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Britney Spears’s Legal BattleControl of Spears’s EstateThe ‘Free Britney’ MovementWatch ‘Framing Britney Spears’ in the U.S.Making the DocumentaryAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTimes InsiderBehind the Making of ‘Framing Britney Spears’The director and a senior editor of the Times documentary answered viewer questions about the media response, the star’s mother and searching for clues on Instagram.A new documentary from The New York Times examines the so-called Free Britney movement made up of fans of the pop star Britney Spears.CreditCredit…G. Paul Burnett/The New York TimesFeb. 11, 2021Updated 2:22 p.m. ETTimes Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.The premiere last week of the film “Framing Britney Spears,” part of the TV documentary series “The New York Times Presents,” looked closely at Ms. Spears’s legal battle with her father, Jamie Spears, over control of her finances. For more than a decade, that control has been held largely by Mr. Spears in a conservatorship, a complex legal arrangement typically used for the sick or elderly.Since the film’s release on FX and Hulu, celebrities and fans have expressed their support for Ms. Spears on social media. The latest court hearing in the fight was scheduled for Thursday in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, Samantha Stark, the director, and Liz Day, a senior editor on the film, answered questions from readers in an “Ask Me Anything” session on the website Reddit. The following are edited excerpts.Were there any legal hurdles you faced in making the film?LIZ DAY We did not receive any direct legal threats while making the documentary. Reporting any investigative story requires extreme attention to factual accuracy and fairness, and this project was no different, though it was made even more difficult by an ongoing court case, attorney-client privilege, medical privacy, celebrity nondisclosure agreements, distrust of the press and other factors.What is the involvement of Lynne Spears, Britney’s mother, in all of this?SAMANTHA STARK So what we know about Lynne Spears is that she is not legally a part of Britney’s conservatorship team. We know she recently petitioned to be included to have access to more information and to be able to have her lawyer speak during the hearings, and that she filed as an “interested party” to do that.It’s unclear what involvement Lynne had related to the conservatorship up until recently. In a Nov. 10 hearing, Lynne said, through her lawyer (and I’m paraphrasing) that she thanked Jamie for the work he had been doing but that she wanted Britney to wake up to see brighter days. It’s very hard to understand what role Jamie, Lynne or a number of other people have played throughout the conservatorship because so many of the court records are sealed.What’s your view on the media response to the documentary? It feels as if many of the outlets that disparaged Britney years ago are now doing thinkpieces about how the media destroyed her.STARK There’s one thing I noticed in the past week doing interviews with media outlets that I never even thought of before the film came out. When Britney was being shamed for her sexuality as a teenager and stalked as a young adult, the gatekeepers to all these media outlets — the ones doing the shaming — were in their 30s, 40s, 50s. We as teenagers watched that happen. Now that my/our generation are a lot of the gatekeepers, we’re saying “no more.”How should those media outlets respond after playing a part in all the derision that Britney endured?STARK I think they should respond by not ever doing anything like it ever again. I think they should take a note from Britney’s book and be kindhearted, open and nonjudgmental.Did you contact any of Britney’s ex-husbands or boyfriends, like Jason Alexander, Kevin Federline, Jason Trawick or Charlie Ebersol, or some of her photographers/videographers, like David LaChappelle and Nigel Dick?DAY Yes, at the end of the doc we listed the members of Ms. Spears’s family who we requested on-camera interviews with but who did not respond or declined. But we reached out to a lot more people than just that list, including the ex-husbands/boyfriends mentioned. We spoke with Nigel Dick and reached out to David LaChappelle too. There were many people we spoke with on background who did not appear on camera. There were also a few people whose on-camera interviews we did not include because of time.Britney Spears hasn’t been able to fully control her career for 13 years under a court-sanctioned conservatorship. A New York Times documentary, now streaming on FX and Hulu, examines the pop star’s court battle with her father for control of her estate.CreditCredit…Ting-Li Wang/The New York TimesWhat are your thoughts on the obsessive Britney fans who question and dissect her social media posts?STARK There’s such a tight circle around Ms. Spears, seemingly enabled by the conservatorship, that it’s really hard to ask her how she is or what she thinks. We know that she hasn’t done interviews in a long time and that when she did for many years she was likely under very careful watch. So I honestly think it makes sense for people to look to her Instagram to try and parse how she might be doing. It’s the only place we’ve been able to see or hear from her for quite some time.Did you look at the financial records? Forbes has estimated her wealth at $60 million. Shouldn’t it be higher?DAY Excellent question. Britney’s true net worth is a mystery, and there’s speculation that there may be a lot more money beyond $60 million outside of her estate, in trusts or elsewhere as royalties, intellectual property and more. There are lots of companies set up as private LLCs, of which records are scant. One thing I would add is that often when you hear big Hollywood paychecks, you have to consider everyone who is taking a cut — managers, lawyers and government taxes, for example.Did you expect this film would result in a big resurgence of the #FreeBritney movement?STARK When making a film, I never know what parts of the piece will hit people in the emotional gut. I really had no idea this would happen.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More