Britney Spears’ father Jamie will reportedly continue to act as her conservator after a judge rejected a challenge by the singer’s mother Lynne.
A source told TMZ the star’s dad will stay in control of his daughter’s business affairs. He had earlier relinquished medical and personal decisions to her care manager, Jodi Montgomery.
Both the singer’s parents attended a hearing Wednesday on the future of the court conservatorship that for 11 years has controlled her money and affairs.
Spears, 37, made no appearance and it was earlier reported that the session ended with no decisions made.
But TMZ reports the judge ruled in Jamie’s favor – that despite the fact Britney is not said to have spoke with her father since an incident involving her teenage son.
In the wake of an alleged altercation with Sean-Preston, 14, last month Jamie stepped down from some of his duties as conservator. He will not face any criminal charges in that case due to ‘insufficient evidence’.
A source told the website the Toxic hitmaker is not doing well, adding: ‘She goes through cycles, and hopefully we’re at the bottom now.’
Jamie Spears temporarily stepped down in his role as conservator over his daughter’s personal affairs earlier this month, citing poor health, but he maintained his financial control over her
Lynne is pictured at the airport following Wednesday’s hearing. Lynne Spears has not been involved in the conservatorship but has recently asked for greater access to information from its proceedings and filings
Britney abruptly exited a red carpet appearance with boyfriend Sam Asghari, 25, at The 2nd Annual Daytime Beauty Awards in Los Angeles on Friday.
The hearing two days earlier had been cleared of the public and media. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda J. Penny issued no public rulings during or after the proceedings, and Spears was not listed among those in attendance.
The hearing opened with a courtroom full of media members and a few Spears fans, but all were required to leave when Penny agreed with attorneys who requested that the hearing and its transcripts should be sealed because of what would be revealed about Spears’ medical, mental and financial issues, along with details about her two young sons.
In May, the 37-year-old Spears made a rare appearance in the same courtroom for another closed conservatorship hearing. She had asked to speak to the court and was brought in through a back door once the courtroom was cleared.
Her request raised the possibility that she could be seeking changes in the arrangement that she has largely quietly accepted for years.
Court documents she said the status hearing would resume in January.
Jamie Spears temporarily stepped down in his role as conservator over his daughter’s personal affairs earlier this month, citing poor health, but he maintained his financial control over her.
Prosecutors in neighboring Ventura County announced Tuesday that they would not be filing criminal charges against the 67-year-old Jamie Spears after deputies investigated an allegation of child abuse said to have involved Sean-Preston.
The district attorney’s office would not say who the child in the report was or give any other details on the investigation. Jamie Spears’ attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Britney Spears abruptly exited a red carpet appearance with boyfriend Sam Friday. Her father will reportedly continue to act as her conservator following a hearing in LA on Wednesday
Some of Britney’s fans claim the singer is being controlled against her will by her father Jamie, who serves as her conservator, and that she is surreptitiously seeking help to free herself
Protesters gather outside the Los Angeles courthouse on Wednesday ahead of the hearing
Britney pictured with her father Jamie, left brother Bryan and mother Lynne, right in 2006
Jodi Montgomery, who has long helped manage Britney Spears’ personal affairs, is now playing the role her father relinquished, and was also in court Wednesday.
Lynne Spears has not been involved in the conservatorship but has recently asked for greater access to information from its proceedings and filings.
Jamie Spears has several grandchildren, including Britney Spears’ two sons, who are 14 and 13.
Her ex-husband Kevin Federline has custody of the boys, but she has frequent visits with them.
Conservatorship, known in many states as guardianship, is an involuntary status usually reserved for very elderly or very ill people who are suffering from dementia or otherwise incapacitated and unable to make decisions for themselves.
The court put Britney Spears under the status in 2008 when she was having serious personal and psychiatric struggles, many of which played out in public.
Dozens of the pop star’s fans who oppose the conservatorship and insist she’s being controlled against her will protested outside the courthouse Wednesday, as they usually do outside such hearings, with signs that read ‘Free Britney.’