New details are emerging from the settlement Britney Spears reached with her father, Jamie Spears, last year over a legal dispute regarding her conservatorship.
In November 2021, an L.A. County judge terminated Britney’s 13-year-long conservatorship, which had given her estranged father Jamie control of his pop star daughter’s personal and financial affairs.
At the time, Britney’s former attorney Matthew S. Rosengart had objected to her paying any of her father’s legal fees. In court documents filed by Rosengart on Jan. 14, 2022 — and obtained by PEOPLE — Jamie was accused of paying himself over $6 million throughout the conservatorship, surveilling his daughter and committing financial misconduct while he was a conservator. (Jamie has denied any wrongdoing.) The “Work Bitch” singer, 43, and her father, 72, eventually settled the legal battle on April 25, 2024.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in court filings made by both parties in Los Angeles Superior Court last year. Now, PEOPLE can exclusively confirm the details of the settlement, nearly one year after they were agreed upon on Feb. 24, 2024.
PEOPLE has learned that Britney agreed to pay Jamie’s outstanding legal bills totaling $2.12 million: First, to the Saul Ewing firm for $500,000, deposited into the company’s U.S. Bank account (Hal Morris, the general counsel at the firm, signed the contract); then, to Willkie Farr & Gallagher for $1.62 million, transferred into their Citibank account (partner Alex M. Weingarten signed). She had 60 days to pay both fees in full, or she’d accrue further costs of court and attorney fees, even post-judgement interest. Jamie’s previous attorneys, Vivian L. Thoreen, a partner at Holland & Knight, received no further payments.
PEOPLE confirms Britney paid both legal fees in full within 60 days, as required by the agreement.
The parties who entered into the contract — including Britney and her father — agreed that the payments resolved all disputes in connection with the conservatorship proceedings. The agreement states that no parties concede any admission of fact, claim, liability or wrongdoing. All parties, through their counsel, mutually participated in the preparation and drafting of the agreement. They waived the rights to an appeal.
“It was a great result for Britney because it also avoided the possibility of ever having her testify in court, which she did not want to do, and avoided a media circus,” a source tells PEOPLE of the settlement.
A rep for Britney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Rosengart, Britney’s former attorney, could not be reached for comment.
“Jamie is thrilled that the case was settled,” Weingarten, Jamie’s attorney, told PEOPLE in a statement to PEOPLE on Thursday, Feb. 20. “He has only ever wanted what is best for Britney, whom he loves very much. Jamie’s work as conservator has ultimately been vindicated and the world knows how hard he worked to protect her.”
After the settlement was finalized last year, Rosengart told PEOPLE in a statement: “Although the conservatorship was terminated in November 2021, her wish for freedom is now truly complete. As she desired, her freedom now includes that she will no longer need to attend or be involved with court or entangled with legal proceedings in this matter. Britney Spears won when the court suspended her father, and Britney Spears won when her fundamental rights and civil liberties were restored.”
Recently, Britney reunited with Rosengart and shared an Instagram video of their meeting at his office on Feb. 17.
“It’s been way too long since I’ve seen him !!! OMG OMG OMG !!! It was such an incredible day !!! I am blessed and got a book. He showed me up with his suit!!! I will be in heels next time,” Spears captioned the post. “PS – I thought they were taking pictures but it was on Video. Such a winner.”
Last June, Rosengart reflected on his time working with Britney, telling PEOPLE in a statement: “I was honored to work with and protect Britney, who is and will always be an icon, and most specifically, to have helped restore the fundamental rights and civil liberties that were stripped from her, which was always our focus.”
Spears — who shares sons Sean Preston, 19, and Jayden James, 18, with ex-husband Kevin Federline — looked back on her life under the conservatorship in her New York Times-bestselling 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, which has sold more than two million copies.
Ahead of the bombshell book’s release, Britney opened up to PEOPLE in an exclusive cover story.
“Learning this new freedom, I’ll admit, is challenging at times,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “It is finally time for me to raise my voice and speak out, and my fans deserve to hear it directly from me. … No more conspiracy, no more lies — just me owning my past, present and future.”
The “Hold Me Closer” singer added: “Over the past 15 years or even at the start of my career, I sat back while people spoke about me and told my story for me. … After getting out of my conservatorship, I was finally free to tell my story without consequences from the people in charge of my life.”
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