Pop icon Britney Spears, 39, is scheduled to address the judge overseeing her conservatorship case today.
Spears has been under a conservatorship since 2008 and requested the hearing so she could address the court directly, a rare move in the 13-year legal arrangement.
The topic of her father, Jamie Spears, and his role as her conservator is expected to be a central point of discussion at the Wednesday hearing.
Spears' attorney, Samuel Ingham III, has repeatedly said Spears would prefer her father no longer be involved with the conservatorship. He currently shares the co-conservator role with the Bessemer Trust Co. The two oversee all of Spears' business affairs.
Los Angeles attorney Troy Martin, who is an expert in conservatorship law, told KNX the court will first evaluate Spears’ mental fitness if she wants the arrangement lifted.
“If Britney does make a formal request, what the court is likely to do is appoint an expert to evaluate her and make an opinion as to whether she’s able to stand on her own.”
Martin added that Spears’ conservatorship is an unusual one.
“A conservatorship really is intended for use when you have an elderly person who is suffering from dementia,” he said.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny will oversee the hearing with most participants attending remotely.
Confidential court records obtained by the New York Times revealed Spears has been unhappy with the conservatorship for years, despite her public silence on the matter.
According to the paper, “In 2019, Ms. Spears told the court that she had felt forced by the conservatorship into a stay at a mental health facility and to perform against her will.”
The records included a 2016 report written by a court investigator. The investigator wrote of Spears, “She is ‘sick of being taken advantage of’ and she said she is the one working and earning her money but everyone around her is on her payroll.”
Despite being unable to make her own financial decisions, since being placed under conservatorship, Spears has guest starred on a national television show, performed a world tour and held a successful residency in Vegas.
The 2016 report included Spears' complaints that she was unable to use her own credit card or make minor decisions about her daily life.
The hearing has gained an enormous amount of attention in part because of the #FreeBritney movement. Behind the hashtag are a group of fans who have mounted a years-long campaign to end the conservatorship. They cite Spears' many performances and successful music career as proof that she is capable of directing her own life.
Related
