Britney's Dad Paid To Do Conservator Work
We said on BTR Today yesterday that this would be all over the internets today, and sure enough...it is:
A court has ordered the troubled pop star's estate to pay James Spears' $2,500 in weekly compensation and authorized him to lease a car. On Wednesday, his authority to handle his daughter's affairs, which was scheduled to expire March 10, was extended until July 31.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz ordered the weekly payments in documents released by the court Thursday but signed on Wednesday. James Spears, who recently worked as a caterer, was named conservator of his daughter and co-conservator of her estate after she was hospitalized twice in January.
Goetz also ordered Spears' estate to make a $58,800 payment to Samuel D. Ingham III, the court-appointed attorney who represents Britney Spears in the conservatorship case. She also authorized the pop star's psychiatrist to hire two other doctors and pay them retainers totaling $9,000 from her estate.
An attorney for James Spears, Vivian Thoreen, argued in court documents that the extension of the temporary conservatorship was necessary because Jon Eardley, an attorney who made an unsuccessful attempt to move the probate case to federal court last month, had filed additional papers in U.S. District Court. Those documents were under seal.
I'll spare you some of the snarkier comments left by other bloggers. Conservators are paid to do what they do, no matter who they are dealing with, and the courts do legally offer them a fair compensation. It's not just because it's Britney Spears that they're dealing with.
Think about it...if you had someone come in and make sure your bills were paid every month, made sure your rent was paid every month, made sure your hospital and doctor visits were scheduled and paid for, made sure your various insurances were paid up or billed for services, hired you bodyguards and drivers, gave you walking-around-money to go blow on Starbucks and ugly boots, paid your lawyers and other legal counsel, and all the other things that go with being a famous person that is dealing with a mental problem...you'd pay them, wouldn't you? Snark at them we will, but famous people do have different daily needs to spend their money on than Joe Schmoe The Ragpicker. When's the last time you had to hire a full-time bodyguard as part of your normal everyday routine?
If Jamie Spears was in this for the money, I'd think he'd go after more than a paltry $2500 weekly. And let's face it...Brit's life is more stable (read: We haven't been hearing about her every move in the tabloids every single night) than it has been for a long time now. That alone is priceless.
