Today is a day that Britney Spears has been waiting on for quite a long time. The superstar's attorney, Mathew Rosengart, will be in court today, along with others involved in Spears' 13-year long conservatorship (including her parents, Jamie Spears and Lynne Spears) to take part in a hearing that will listen to arguments about ending the agreement. But, will Britney Spears and the #FreeBritney movement see a big win today with the conservatorship actually being terminated?
While Spears has wanted out from the conservatorship for some time, she's also wanted her dad removed from it, and after the family fight became very public, he agreed to step down in mid-August. A little less than a month later, Jamie Spears filed a petition to end the conservatorship completely, but now that everyone is headed back to court, it's not considered a slam dunk that that will happen.
According to TMZ, even though no one on either side of the case is going to argue to keep the court order in place, there are a few potential obstacles, meaning that it's unlikely to end today.
The first issue is that the judge in the case could order that Spears has to undergo a mental health evaluation before fully ending the conservatorship, seeing as how that's what led to the agreement over a decade ago. This is even though the elder Spears, in his petition to end his daughter's conservatorship, asked that it be done without the need for such a step. Unfortunately, if the judge does decide that this is a requirement, that's a process that could add several months to the conservatorship while the singer's mental evaluation is being done.
Alternately, an order for mediation could be called for by the judge, which would lead to everyone involved coming up with a joint plan to transition Britney Spears out of the conservatorship. Luckily, Spears has already asked the conservator of her person, Jodi Montgomery, to stay in her employ and continue to take care of many of the daily things she currently does for Spears, and it's been said that Montgomery agreed to do so. But, a major question is who will help Spears manage her financial affairs once her dad is out of the picture.
After the accountant she originally wanted to have appointed to be temporary conservator of her estate was revealed to have been denied that very position for his own mother, Spears' legal team then nominated CPA John Zabel for the job. But, just yesterday, Jamie Spears filed papers strongly objecting his nomination. If mediation is the next step, it's thought that Jamie will ask to be kept in place until someone else is found. And that's a move that his daughter and her attorney will fight with all their might, as they want him gone from the conservatorship immediately.
This summer saw a lot of movement, changes and new charges with regards to Britney Spears' long-standing conservatorship. After the newly engaged pop star finally spoke up in court about alleged abuses she's faced while under it, mostly due to her father's control over her finances, Spears began to see some freedoms returned to her. She's been fighting for over a year to have her father out of her conservatorship, and with many other issues to iron out before it ends altogether, it could be a while before this chapter of her life closes for good.
