Is Britney’s Conservatorship To Be Made Permanent?
That appeared to be one of the questions facing the courts yesterday, as they met again to discuss Brit, legal fees, visitation, and money:
A Los Angeles Superior Court has approved a request to allow the star, who is worth an estimated $US100 million, a $1,500-a-week allowance on a credit card to “enjoy herself”. […]
Commissioner Goetz said she had received two petitions for a permanent conservatiorship - one for Britney’s person and one for her estate - which will be dealt with at a hearing on July 31.
After making the request for Britney’s credit card, lawyer Geraldine Wyle, representing Jamie Spears, said they also wanted to enlist the help of “entertainment counsel” to assist them with the singer’s affairs.
She said they had found a “local counsel” who would do it for a fee of $15,000 a month.
The Commisisoner Mr Wallet if the conservators “bond” was still enough.
He said they were currently using Britney’s periodic assets to pay her bills and had a sum of $135,000 to use. “For now we are probably Ok,” Mr Wallet told the court.
Britney could have appeared…but then again:
“My client has been inconsistent with her possible attendance at this hearing,” he said.
“The last word I had from her was that she did not attend to appear.
“I have discussed this date with her repeatedly. I would categorise her as unwilling to appear.”
And word is also that her counsel wants babydaddy Kevin to pay his share of his legal fees:
Britney’s new lawyer, Stacy Phillips, argued that K-Fed’s lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan’s fees are excessive, saying that four months of fees for both sides added up to a whopping $900,000. Additionally, she argued that Kevin has the ability to pay for his own lawyer (the current agreement stipulates that the pop star pays for all of her ex-husband’s legal fees), saying, “Ms. Spears is not an open checkbook.”
After Phillips said that Kaplan’s fees should be in the “$150,000-$175,000 range,” she attacked Kevin, saying he has not separated his personal and business expenses, and revealed that his ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson has use of his business credit card and is using it for personal purposes. She went on to say that K-Fed recently spent $20,000 on jewelry, went out to dinner and left a $2,000 tip on a $365 bill.
Well, let’s take this one thing at a time, shall we?
I personally think the $1500-per-week allowance on a card is a great idea. It keeps a record of what she’s spent her money on (which I think is undoubtedly seriously lacking in her household accounts) and it gives the conservators a good idea of where some of the money is going that probably just disappears from her bank accounts every month. Hey, I’d love it if someone gave me $1500 a week to blow! Assuming venti Frapps to be around $5 a pop, that is 300 Starbucks beverages! (I kid, I kid)
She also needs to have some sort of counsel advising her and taking care of her business. Sadly, she has not had anyone around her for a long while now to help her…she’s pretty much been in charge of herself, and look where that has gotten her. Unfortunately, in the business called show, one must have “people”. There is just too much going on for one person to go it alone.
As far as Kevin goes….well, if he has enough money to leave a generous tip, he has enough money to put some towards his legal fees. It isn’t like he’s broke or not working (he’s had his spots on One Tree Hill, such as they were, and he has apparently been doing some producing work). I’m not saying he is as well-off as Britney, but he can set some aside to pay towards his own legal fees. However, the argument could be made that without Brit’s antics, there would be no reason to have all these legal gymnastics, so I do think she should pony up some of the cash. And perhaps MVK should fess up as to why his fees are so exorbitant.
And lastly…a permanent conservatorship? It would seem that Britney is a lot sicker than the public at large has been led to believe, which is what we at GlossLip have been saying for a long time now. I think once they get her medication straightened out and at a correct dosage, her emotions, mental state, and life in general should straighten up considerably. But if she truly does have bipolar disorder, much will depend upon her taking her medications regularly and not thinking she is better just because she feels better. But she does need someone to help her in this area…if she continues spending as much as she has been, and bringing in very little, she’ll have no fortune left.
In some personal news, Brit was photographed in tears last night, supposedly when she learned sometimes-boyfriend Adnan was turned away from her home. I’m not a big fan of Anon Brazilianwax, and I’m wondering if Britney is just pining after him because she’s been told she can’t see him. Dad Jamie had better tread lightly, because things like this have a way of backfiring.
Regardless, I hope she continues to receive the help she needs to learn how to live a productive and happy life. I just wish she would learn that true happiness doesn’t come from spending sprees and childish behavior, and I think that is something she needs to deal with outside of her mental health. True maturity comes from knowing you can act however you like, yet choosing not to act in ways that are detrimental to yourself, and regardless of her mental state she is a very immature person. I genuinely hope that as she sorts out her mental health, that she can emerge victorious within herself.
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She is starting to look really strange. Something about her face is just “off.” Although her hair looks great in these pictures, her face is bloated and her eyes are dull and strange. If this is the “new and improved” Britney…boy, I dunno.
Comment by Mitsu — March 11, 2008 @ 10:17 am
This is such a difficult subject. On one hand Britney does clearly need some kind of intensive mental help, and it seems that may require medicine in her case. Bi-polar is NOT something that can be treated solely with talk therapy, but I do know that excessive med use can take years off of a person’s life and make them seem “dull and lifeless.”
It makes you wonder how Britney survived as long as she did appearing so “normal.” Perhaps, and I hate to say this, she has “schizophrenia” instead of bi-polar.
Schizophrenia is a mental illness which usual strikes a person in their early adulthood, late adolescence. Plus you add the children, post-partum depression, and the weirdness of fame for the past 10 years of life, and really is it any surprise? We know mental illness runs in Britney’s family, so the question is, what’s REALLY eating at Britney.
While schizophrenia can be treated with meds, it does leave a person simply “dull” at times and some people never full come back to life once it takes hold of their brain.
Honestly, it makes me so sad to think this may be her fate. I genuinely feel compassion for this young woman. Thank goodness Sam Lufti is far away. Can you imagine the perversity of him taking full advantage o her when she was obviously so very sick?
What an evil person he is.
Comment by D — March 11, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
Urrgh. I still can’t get around the fact that Shar Jackson has acces to his business credit card - and I am sorry, if his available credit is based on his One Tree Hill earnings it would have a $3,000 limit. She has been really vocal about taking the high road in all of this - but come on - it’s like her having personal access to BS’s checking account. I always wondered how she could afford thousands for all that plastic surgery.
Comment by ebayer — March 11, 2008 @ 6:51 pm
Yeah, I didn’t know about Shar using his business credit card…or any of his credit cards, for that matter.
I seriously wonder if she’s taken him back, for all her protestations to the contrary.
Comment by k — March 11, 2008 @ 7:59 pm