The new ruler was a child, and the government was in the hands of his mother, the unnamed daughter of sebastocrator Constantine Palaiologos and niece of Michael VIII Palaiologos called simply "Smiltsena" ("wife of Smilets").
To meet this threat and the invasion of the Mongol prince Chaka, Ivan II's mother sought an alliance with Aldimir (Eltimir), the brother of the former ruler George Terter I. Aldimir was accordingly married to Smilets' daughter Marina (Marija) and, if this had not happened earlier, was given the title of despotēs and invested with an extensive landholding around Krăn.
In 1299 the Bulgarian government attempted unsuccessfully to ally with Serbian King Stefan Milutin to the exclusion of the latter's projected alignment with the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos.
The regents of Ivan II were unable to strengthen their position, and abandoned Tărnovo to Chaka, who installed himself as emperor in 1299.
Ivan II spent the remainder of his life as an exile in Byzantium, under the name Iōannēs Komnēnos Doukas Angelos Branas Palaiologos, and shortly before his death he became a monk under the name Joasaph.