Britney Spears asks judge to deny mother’s request she pay more than $600,000 in legal fees

Britney Spears asked a judge to deny her mother’s request that the singer pay for more than $660,000 in legal fees incurred during the pop star’s former conservatorship.

Britney Spears’ attorney, Matthew Rosengart, objected to the request in a response filed prior to a Wednesday hearing, noting that Lynne Spears was a third party to the conservatorship. The request from Lynne Spears, filed in November 2021, argued that she hired a legal team “to assist Britney to break the restrictions imposed by the conservatorship.”

But Britney Spears, who has paid for legal fees for her father Jamie Spears throughout the conservatorship, objects to her mother’s request. Rosengart asserted that there is no legal basis that requires a conservatee to pay for a third-party’s expense and it would be a dangerous precedent to set.

Rosengart also states that Britney Spears has already spent nearly $1.7 million for her mother to live “in a large, expensive house” in Kentwood, Louisiana, and related upkeep expenses.

“The fees and costs at issue cannot be hoisted onto Britney Spears, who has already paid many millions for court-appointed counsel, counsel for the conservator of the estate, counsel for the conservator of the person, and others, all while very generously providing a beautiful home for her mother and paying for all associated expenses,” Rosengart said in his objection.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny delayed ruling on the issue, saying more documentation was required before she could grant the request, according to a minute order reviewed by NBC News Thursday.

The petition is expected to be reviewed again in July.

In 2008, Britney Spears was placed in a conservatorship that was dissolved last year after expressing to the court that she felt her father’s controlling influence over her life as a conservator was abusive.

Lynne Spears filed a series of legal motions in 2019 requesting to be kept informed on developments pertaining to her daughter’s conservatorship.

Though she did not file to become either a personal or financial conservator, Lynne Spears’ petition said that she assisted her daughter in interviewing new doctors and raised concerns with the court during what was described as a “crisis” point in the conservatorship.

Rosengart argued that forcing his client to pay for Lynne Spears’ attorneys would open the door to “mischief” for any “interested party” to seek a conservatee to pay exorbitant legal fees that didn’t incur.

“If Britney Spears (now, at last, a free woman) were to voluntarily agree that Lynne Spears should receive an additional payment from her, that would be her choice,” Rosengart said. “But the Petition is entirely unsupported by law or equity and must be rejected for these reasons alone.”