A hearing is scheduled Wednesday in Los Angeles as Britney Spears moves to remove her father from the conservatorship arrangement she has been under since 2008.
“Britney is strongly opposed to [Jamie Spears’] return as conservator of her person,” reads a filing in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles by the pop star’s lawyer Samuel D Ingham III.
A court appointed Jamie Spears and Andrew Wallet co-conservators in 2008 following the “Toxic” singer’s mental health breakdown. Wallet resigned last year and Jamie stepped aside temporarily due to health issues and was replaced by Jodi Montgomery, an independent professional conservator.
With the conservatorship up for extension on Aug. 22, Britney’s lawyer said in court filings that it “must be changed substantially in order to reflect the major changes in her current lifestyle and her stated wishes.” It proposed giving Montgomery permanent control because Britney “strongly prefers to have a qualified corporate fiduciary appointed” to manage her financial affairs.
Despite a campaign by fans to “Free Britney” from the conservatorship, Ingham noted it “rescued her from a collapse, exploitation by predatory individuals and financial ruin" and made her “able to regain her position as a world class entertainer.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that Britney paid $1.2 million (all figures U.S.) last year for costs and fees related to her conservatorship, including $128,000 to her father.
In January 2019, Spears announced she was taking “an indefinite work hiatus” to focus on caring for her father, who underwent surgery for a ruptured colon.
This past March, the singer's 13-year-old son Jayden Federline said during an Instagram Live he didn't know if his mother will make music again. “I remember one time I asked her, I said, ‘Mom, what happened to your music?’ and she was like, ‘I don't know, honey. I think I might just quit it.’ I'm like, ‘What? What are you saying? Like, do you know how much bank you make off of that stuff?’”
Spears hasn't released a studio album since 2016's Glory and hasn't performed since her Piece of Me Tour ended in October 2018.