Britney Spears could finally see her father removed from the conservatorship that controls her life and money during a highly awaited court hearing.
The pop superstar (39) has demanded Jamie (69) immediately step down from his role in the complex legal arrangement, which gives him power over his daughter’s career.
After months of pressure as the case attracted fevered interest from around the world, Jamie said in August he would relinquish control over the conservatorship, but gave no timeframe for doing so.
And earlier this month he stunned those watching the case by asking a judge to consider terminating the arrangement, questioning whether it was still needed to ensure his daughter’s wellbeing.
Judge Brenda Penny will sit at a hearing in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, where she could rule on the petition to remove Jamie as conservator.
It is unlikely the judge will make a decision on the termination of the conservatorship.
Spears “emphatically consents” to the conservatorship being brought to an end before the end of the year, her lawyers said.
But she has repeatedly said she does not want to be psychologically evaluated as a condition of the arrangement being wound up.
The pop superstar was placed under the conservatorship – a measure usually reserved for the very old or sick – in 2008 after suffering a series of mental breakdowns.
Jamie has overseen her multimillion dollar estate since, while professional care-giver Jodi Montgomery is responsible for Spears’s personal affairs.
If Jamie is ousted from the conservatorship, the singer’s legal team has suggested he will be required to help his successor, likely a specialist firm.
The latest hearing comes amid ratcheting tensions between Spears and her father, with a new documentary claiming the singer was secretly recorded while in her bedroom.
Controlling Britney Spears alleges the singer’s conversations with her two sons and boyfriend were taped.
Mathew S Rosengart, Spears’s high-powered Hollywood lawyer, said if true the reports showed Jamie had “engaged in horrifying and unconscionable invasions of his adult daughter’s privacy”.
“Mr Spears has crossed unfathomable lines,” the lawyer wrote in a court filing.
Mr Rosengart previously accused Jamie of trying to “extort” his daughter over payments allegedly totalling about £1.5 million he is said to have wanted made to his legal team and former business manager.
Spears, who has not performed since 2018, has made two high-profile court appearances this year.
In June she told the judge the conservatorship was abusive, while the following month she demanded her father be charged for his role in the arrangement.
She alleged she was being prevented from getting married and having more children.
Spears announced she was engaged to partner Sam Asghari earlier this month.
