The ongoing legal battle over Britney Spears’s conservatorship is due to return to court today (11 February).
While Spears will not be present at the hearing in Los Angeles on Thursday, it is the first to take place following the release of Framing Britney Spears, a documentary which has reignited public interest in the conservatorship and the #FreeBritney movement.
A conservatorship is when a guardian or protector is appointed by a court to manage the life of someone due to physical or mental limitations.
Britney’s conservatorship was put in place in 2008 after she suffered a public breakdown in 2007 and is managed by her father, Jamie Spears.
In August, however, Britney’s lawyer Sam Ingham began an attempt to remove Jamie as her sole conservator, stating that she was “strongly opposed” to the idea.
Instead, Britney wants her temporary personal conservator Jodi Montgomery to be made permanent, while leaving open the option to potentially terminate the deal in the future if she wishes.
The arrangement then reached a boiling point in November after Ingham told the court that the singer was “afraid” of Jamie and would not perform again while he remained her conservator.
However, a judge declined to immediately remove Jamie from his central role in the conservatorship.
Read more: People spent years taking photos of Britney Spears. But did they ever actually look?
The last hearing was due to take place in December, but Jamie, Britney’s mother Lynne and Ingham decided to continue discussions in 2021. This means that the conservatorship extended until at least 3 September, where it was previously set to run until February.
The New York Times reports that today’s court date will likely include a discussion of the role Jamie will play in the managing of Britney’s estate going forward.
Spears appeared to address the renewed interest in her conservatorship in an Instagram post shared on Tuesday (9 February).
“I’ll always love being on stage … but I am taking the time to learn and be a normal person... I love simply enjoying the basics of every day life!” she wrote.
“Each person has their story and their take on other people’s stories! We all have so many different bright beautiful lives! Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person's life, it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens!”
