The legal battle over Britney Spears' conservatorship rages on, with the court ruling her father, Jamie, should not have sole control over the singer's estate.
The pop-star was not present at the Los Angeles hearing, which took place in the wake of the new New York Times, FX and Hulu documentary, Framing Britney Spears.
The court hearing on Thursday was organised to discuss what role the co-conservators will play in overseeing Britney's estate.
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A judge denied her father's objections to how her conservatorship will be delegated - which now halts Jamie from having power over investments.
This comes after Britney's lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, argued last year that the singer was afraid of James "Jamie" Spears and would rather a professional financial institution take over her estate.
He added that the nature of a co-conservatorship is that Jamie's powers as sole conservator - appointed by the court in 2019 - would be reduced.
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The judge has now ruled that both Jamie, and the Bessemer Trust - the third party Britney wanted to take entire control of her conservatorship - are expected to work together on a budget and investment proposal for Britney Spears' estate.
Another hearing on the conservatorship is scheduled to take place next month.
As conservator, Jamie has had control over 39-year-old Britney's life for more than a decade, when the pop star suffered a very public breakdown 12 years ago.
Conservatorship is when a person is appointed by the courts to manage all areas of someone's life (for example, career decisions and finances) if they suffer with physical or mental limitations.
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Initially, and for the first 11 years, Britney's dad was co-conservator along with lawyer Andrew M Wallet. However, Andrew resigned in 2019 which gave Jamie sole conservatorship.
He stepped down for a period last year due to health problems, and Britney said she "strongly opposed" his return, with her lawyer Sam Ingham beginning an attempt to remove him from the position as her sole conservator and alleging she was "afraid" of him.
Instead, Britney wanted her temporary personal conservator Jodi Montgomery to be made permanent, while leaving open the option to potentially terminate the deal in the future if she wishes.
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However, in November, the judge in the case refused to remove Jamie, but did opt to add Bessemer Trust as a co-conservator and corporate fiduciary.
Defending his right to his daughter's conservatorship, Britney's dad, James, said as it was upheld: "I have and will continue to provide unwavering love and fierce protection against those with self-serving interests and those who seek to harm her or my family."
He later told CNN he was "protecting" his daughter from "those with self-serving interests and those who seek to harm her".
The conservatorship has been the subject of much debate in recent months, with many of Britney's fans believing she was forced into the arrangement.
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The #FreeBritney campaign was launched as far back as 2009 and some fans have even asked the White House to end the conservatorship, with a petition reaching 125,000 signatures.
Others have protested at court hearings and the hashtag has been widely trending on social media.
Britney has never commented on the #FreeBritney campaign publicly, but she did share a statement this week, which many thought was hinting at the reaction to the documentary.
Sharing a video of her performing Toxic at New Years Rockin' Eve ball in 2018, Britney wrote on Instagram: "Can't believe this performance of Toxic is from three years ago !!! I'll always love being on stage .... but I am taking the time to learn and be a normal person ..... I love simply enjoying the basics of every day life!!!!
"Each person has their story and their take on other people's stories!!!! We all have so many different bright beautiful lives!!!
"Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person's life it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens."
The singer's boyfriend, Sam Asghari, also spoke out following the doc.
Addressing recent criticism of Britney's father, Sam said: "Now it's important for people to understand that I have zero respect for someone trying to control our relationship and constantly throwing obstacles our way."
In the statement - posted on his Instagram Stories, the 27-year-old went on: "In my opinion Jamie is a total d**k."
You can read more about that here.
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