Britney Spears files to replace her father as guardian

Britney Spears has launched a legal bid to remove her father from a guardianship in which he controls her finances and replace him with an independent accountant, court documents filed on Monday showed.

Mathew Rosengart, who was appointed as the pop star's lawyer this month, had pledged to move swiftly to remove Jamie Spears from his role after the singer delivered two emotional testimonies to a Los Angeles court, calling the conservatorship “cruelty".

“If the court doesn't see this as abuse … I don't know what is,” said Spears, 39, telling the court via telephone she wanted her father removed and to “press charges” against him.

The Los Angeles Superior Court website on Monday listed a new petition to “Appoint Conservator of Estate (Successor)", and accountant Jason Rubin is listed as “Nominee".

US media said that a separate petition to remove Jamie Spears from an estate estimated to be worth $60 million was filed but not made public.

Mr Rosengart argued in the petition that as a recent judge's ruling found “Ms Spears has sufficient capacity to choose her own legal counsel, she likewise has sufficient capacity to make this nomination,” The New York Times reported.

Jamie Spears's removal has been a long-standing demand of devoted global fans campaigning under the #FreeBritney slogan.

Spears was placed under a unique legal guardianship largely governed by her father after she suffered a highly public 2007 breakdown.

But the Toxic singer has become increasingly vocal and public in opposing the conservatorship in her emotional court testimonies and social media posts, in which she slammed the system as “cruelty” and accused her father and others of profiting from the system.

Spears alleged in court that she had been prevented from having a contraceptive IUD removed, despite wanting more children, and forcefully put on medication that made her feel “drunk".

She recently wrote on Instagram that she was “not going to be performing on any stages anytime soon with my dad handling what I wear, say, do, or think".

Following a July 14 hearing, Mr Rosengart told AFP his team would be “filing a petition as soon as possible to move Mr Spears”, while also calling on the singer's father to step down voluntarily.

But Jamie Spears's lawyer told the court he would not be standing down and disputed Britney Spears's account of the conservatorship.

A previous petition to remove Jamie Spears from his role last year was rejected by Judge Brenda Penny.

A court hearing has been set for December 13 to address the new petitions.