TheGuardian
A Los Angeles judge denied a request to remove Britney Spears’s father from her conservatorship on Wednesday.
Though the decision was filed a week after Spears called for an end to the “abusive” arrangement in an emotional speech, it is not a direct response to the 39-year-old’s most recent criticism of her conservatorship.
The documents were filed in a response to a request Spears’s attorney made in November to remove her father as sole conservator. At the time, her attorney, Samuel Ingham III, said Spears was “afraid” of her father, Jamie Spears.
In November, Los Angeles superior court judge Brenda Penny declined to remove Jamie Spears and added a trust as the co-conservator of her estate. The documents filed on Wednesday affirm this decision and underline that Jamie Spears is still a conservator.Advertisementhttps://602ec6964990fa16a553b259fd869e51.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
In her first time speaking in open court last week, Spears said she wanted the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years to end. “I just want my life back,” she said.
In the testimony, Spears said she had been forced to work against her will and to use birth control despite her desire to have another child. She said she was blocked from seeing some friends and from speaking to the press.
“I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship if I can work,” she said, adding: “The laws need to change … I don’t feel like I can live a full life.”
Her attorney has not filed to terminate the conservatorship.
Spears told the court last week: “I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to end it. I’m sorry for my ignorance, but I honestly didn’t know that.”
Legal experts told the Guardian that Spears could remain in the conservatorship for months and years. The process to get out of a conservatorship could require an investigation and several court hearings before the court makes a decision.
Until recently, Spears’s father, Jamie Spears, controlled the personal and financial elements of his daughter’s life. Now, he oversees the money and business dealings. In September 2019, the court appointed Jodi Montgomery to oversee Britney Spears’s personal decisions.
Spears told the court last week: “My dad and anyone involved in this conservatorship and my management who played a huge role in punishing me … they should be in jail. I’m talking to you today because I feel again, even Jodi is starting to kind of take it too far with me.”
Late Tuesday, attorneys for Spears’s father filed a petition to ask the court to investigate claims Britney Spears made in her testimony last week. The filings asked the court to examine: “serious allegations regarding forced labor, forced medical treatment and therapy, improper medical care, and limitations on personal rights.”
His lawyers also wrote that Montgomery is “fully in charge of Ms Spears’ day-to-day personal care and medical treatment” and that he was not involved with her marriage or reproductive desires.
Lauriann Wright, Montgomery’s lawyer, released a statement in response: “I can state unequivocally that Jodi Montgomery has been a tireless advocate for Britney and for her wellbeing.Advertisement
“While she does not control Britney’s financial assets, she is responsible for her personal care, and if Britney wants any issue brought up to the court, Ms Montgomery is and has always been ready, willing, and able to do so.”
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 14 July.
