Bryan Spears: Britney's New Money Man

The following italicized article is taken from www.people.com:

Britney Spears's $100 million fortune is now out of her hands – and under the control of her brother and a lawyer, a court ruled Thursday. And for 30-year-old Bryan Spears, that means a big new role – keeping tabs on everything from cash to pay for medicine to money for her daily expenses.

Bryan was named a co-trustee to his famous sister's SJB revocable trust, where the singer keeps most of her money, according to court documents.

So what does it mean to be a trustee? Bryan – along with Ivan Taback, a partner in the personal planning department of the New York-based law firm Proskauer Rose who was also named a co-trustee – now have the power to pay for Britney's "continued security, medicine, food, other day-to-day expenses and for psychiatric and other medical services," according to court documents.

Bryan and Taback were named co-trustees because of an existing clause in the trust. According to the trust, if Britney stops being a trustee, "then Bryan Spears ... and Ivan Taback may act as successor co-trustees under the trust "

The troubled 26-year-old singer, who was recently released from the UCLA Medical Center psych ward, has been stripped of her trustee powers because she is currently considered "legally disabled" by the court, which also extended her father Jamie's co-conservator role until March 10.

The motion to make Bryan and Taback co-trustees was filed by Taback's law firm. However, according to the motion, neither party can act unilaterally, but require "unanimous consent" with the other trustees to act. The documents also state that the trustees can't sell or lease Britney's home without a court order, nor can they remove any of Britney's property from California.

The trustee appointments were made a week after conservatorship attorneys were granted the right to fire Britney's business manager, Howard Grossman.

Source: People

X17 XCLUSIVE - Sam Sets The Record Straight

The following italicized article is taken from www.x17online.com:

X17 just got off the phone with Sam's spokesperson, Michael Sands, who felt the need to address the many rumors floating around about Sam's intentions towards Britney, calling them "pure rhetoric".

He went on to say that Sam has not escaped to Dubai, has no intentions of suing Lynne Spears for defamation, and perhaps most importantly, "never demanded cash" from Brit's business manager (at least for now), Howard Grossman.

"Sam was inserted into Britney's life in October," by whom, Sands would not say, "after Britney had already shaved her head and been in two drug rehabs. Sam became her manager, and then her close friend. A manager does get paid." Sands went on to insist that Sam never asked, much less insisted, on being paid more than he deserved as someone in Brit's employ.

In fact, Sam has already turned down several multi-million dollar offers from the media, refusing to do any interviews. "He is not Shannon Funk or Tony Barretto," says Sands, in reference to the former assistant and bodyguard who have profited from being in Brit's employ, "he wouldn't take advantage of someone who has a disorder. He's not selling her out. There will be no big score." Furthermore, Sam repeatedly refused to accept her money when Britney tried to offer to fix his car, after it was severely damaged by Kevin's process server, Aaron Cohen.

As for Lynne's allegations against Sam in the restraining order filed against him by Jamie Spears, Sands calls them completely false. "If the allegations were accurate, why didn't they get Sam on a 'terrorist threat'? Why didn't they arrest him?" Furthermore, Sam's spokesperson insists that the media try to dig for the facts before passing judgment. "If anyone has questions about Sam's criminal record, I invite them to contact the local, state and federal government to check."

As for Jamie Spears' "complete control" over his daughter, Sands likened Spears to "Davy Crockett making his last stand at the Alamo," as the last one to realize that what Britney really needs is medication to treat her illness.

Sands added that is was his "ultimate goal" to bring peace to the entire situation, so the blame can be placed squarely where it belongs: on Brit's disease.

Source: X17

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Britney's Dad Didn't Trust Her Manager

The following italicized article is taken from www.people.com:

Jamie Spears got permission to fire daughter Britney Spears's business manager after complaining the manager didn't follow directions and failed to turn over documents, court papers show.

The allegations are contained in a motion filed Feb. 7 by probate court attorneys for Jamie and Britney Spears. The motion was granted, allowing Jamie to fire manager Howard Grossman.

"The temporary co-conservators believe that they cannot trust Mr. Grossman to follow instruction," says the motion, made public Monday.

The motion alleges that when Spears was released from a psychiatric hospital, Grossman arranged for her to meet with visitors and attorneys in violation of court orders.

Grossman could not be reached Monday for comment. He previously told PEOPLE that he didn't understand why the conservators would want to fire him.

Source: People

Court Docs: Howard Grossman Toxic

The following italicized article is taken from www.pagesix.com:

Court documents released today in the ongoing Britney Spears saga revealed that the singer's shady business manager Howard Grossman violated the conservatorship order granted to Jamie Spears and attorney Andrew Wallett.

Dad Jamie, miffed that Brit's money man arranged for transport of her vehicle to the Beverly Hills Hotel the day of her release from the UCLA Medical Center, now has the authority to fire Howard without objection from his daughter, so says Commissioner Reva Goetz.

Along with Wallett, Jamie will retain control over Britney's estate and welfare until February 14, when a hearing is scheduled to review the family Spears' current hold on their wayward daughter.

Also released in documents today was sworn testimony by Howard Grossman indicating that Osama Lutfi, former troop leader of Camp Britney, demanded money from him on the pop stars' behalf.

Source: Page Six

Sam Lutfi Reportedly Demanded Money from Britney Spears

The following italicized article is taken from www.usmagazine.com:

Sam Lutfi "made various demands" of Britney Spears, "including demands for money," court documents in the singer's conservatorship case claim.

The revelation was part of a declaration submitted by attorney Jeryll Cohen, who is representing Jamie Spears, Britney's father and co-conservator.

Cohen said that Spears' business manager, Howard Grossman, told her of the "numerous emails" from Lutfi with the demands.

Cohen is seeking the dismissal of Grossman by Spears' conservators – Jamie and attorney Andrew Wallet – because, in part, he will not turn over the emails despite a court order

Cohen's filing claims that despite a court order stating that Spears lacked capacity to retain an attorney, Grossman arranged for a meeting between Spears and Adam Streisand, an attorney who claimed to represented the singer.

Also, the declaration says that Grossman authorized one of Spears' Mercedes to be delivered to her at the Beverly Hills Hotel despite a court order to only release her cars to representatives of Jamie or Wallet.

With Jamie in charge, Lutfi was banned from contacting Spears.

Jamie and Wallet were named co-conservators of the singer's legal, medical, and financial decisions on February 1.

The court's decision to put them in charge was the worst-case scenario for Spears, sources told Us, as she has never been close to her father (who battled alcohol abuse during her childhood and was verbally abusive).

Spears was released from the UCLA Medical Center on February 6 after a week of treatment. She had been expected to remain hospitalized for another 10 days.

The singer was involuntarily committed to treatment for bipolar disorder on January 31.

Source: US Weekly

Court Documents Released in Brit Case

The following italicized article is taken from www.tmz.com:

Documents from last week's hearing have been released, and no one is mincing words -- the court says Jamie Spears can "fire" Britney's business manager.

Jamie Spears accused Howard Grossman of trying to "circumvent" the conservatorship by doing all sorts of things, including violating orders by setting up a meeting with Brit and another lawyer, and sending her a Mercedes.

Take a look at the documents and how it all went down.

See the documents here!

Source: TMZ

Brit's Manager Allegedly Uses Mercedes Ploy

The following italicized article is taken from www.tmz.com:

New documents were filed in the Brit conservatorship hearing last Thursday -- and now we know why the conservators want to give Brit's business manager the ax.

Lawyers for the conservators accused business manager Howard Grossman of ignoring their ground rules. One lawyer wrote in a declaration that she told Grossman "he was not permitted to give Britney any money, credit cards or access to money or credit cards or to meet with her ... at the Beverly Hills Hotel or anywhere else.

"The lawyer claims Grossman defied the order by meeting Brit at the Bev Hills Hotel last week. The lawyer, Jeryll Cohen, is pissed off because Grossman also directed Bev Hills Mercedes to deliver one of Britney's cars to the hotel without first getting the conservators' permission. Cohen says Grossman's lame excuse was that "he wanted to build her [Brit's] confidence in him."

Source: TMZ

Britney's Manager On Way Out, Attorney Wants To Quit

The following italicized article is taken from www.people.com:

In a shake-up, Britney Spears' business manager is close to being fired and her divorce attorney has asked the court for permission to drop her as a client.

Howard Grossman, the business manager, tells PEOPLE he is aware he was the subject of a closed-door hearing Thursday but he has no idea why a temporary conservator's motion to give Spears's father the right to fire him was granted.

Court papers show that Grossman was served Thursday with orders to surrender "all documents, records and assets relating to Britney Spears."

"The only thing I will say is my reputation speaks for itself," Grossman says. "I couldn't tell you why they chose this path."

Also, divorce lawyer Sorrell Trope tells PEOPLE he filed papers Friday asking permission to be released as Spears's attorney in her custody battle with Kevin Federline.

A hearing will be held on the matter on March 10. The high-profile divorce attorney had filed similar papers several weeks ago, but retracted them.

"We filed paper asking to be relieved, and hopefully they will find someone to replace us," Trope tells PEOPLE. "I'm not at liberty to say more at this time."

Source: People

Lawyer Says Brit Worth $40 Million

The following italicized article is from www.tmz.com:

TMZ is in the courtroom where attorney Adam Streisand just asked the court commissioner to 86 Jamie Spears as conservator of Brit's estate.

Streisand said Brit's estate is worth $40 million. He also said Brit is in the middle of a $17 million IRS audit and she has 15 different businesses.

Streisand asked that the Commissioner name Northern Trust Bank and Howard Grossman, Brit's business manager, as conservators.

Here's the rub-- the Commish wasn't convinced that Streisand, the second cousin of Babs, was properly retained by Britney. So far, no decisions have been made.

Source: TMZ