Britney Spears wants a judge to solidify the role of her day-to-day care manager Jodi Montgomery, her lawyer said Wednesday, marking the singer’s latest move to have more say in her conservatorship.
Montgomery stepped in as temporary conservator of Spears’ person in 2019 after the pop star’s dad James Spears took a leave of absence for personal health reasons.
Spears’ lawyer Samuel Ingham said at a brief court hearing Wednesday that he plans to file a petition on Spears’ behalf asking the court to appoint Montgomery as “permanent conservator of the person,” a minute order said.
He’s due to argue the petition April 27, the order said.
The “Toxic” singer, 39, has been under a two-part conservatorship for more than a decade. Montgomery currently oversees her personal affairs such as security and medical care while James Spears oversees her finances.
Ingham previously said Spears won’t return to the stage until her dad is no longer involved in her estate either.
“My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father,” Ingham said at a hearing in November. “She will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.”
Judge Brenda Penny has so far declined to remove James Spears but did agree to appoint wealth manager Bessemer Trust as estate co-conservator at the singer’s request.
James’ lawyers, meanwhile, have defended him in filings, saying he deserves praise for stepping in to help his daughter after her involuntary hospitalization in 2008.
“Mr. Spears has performed his job well. This is not an opinion; he has taken the estate from being in debt and facing tens of millions of dollars of lawsuits to a current value of well over $60 million,” they wrote last year.
They said James has worked “hard with a team of professionals to restore (Britney) to good health, reunite her with her children, and revive her career.”
The Wednesday hearing followed after the new “Framing Britney Spears” documentary debuted on Hulu last month and reenergized the #FreeBritney movement.
