Britney Spears Asked The Courts To Free Her From Her Father's Conservatorship Role

The #FreeBritney movement had a major breakthrough on August 18. Britney Spears asked the California court to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as her sole court-appointed conservator. Jamie has been at the helm of any professional and personal decision making in his daughter's life since 2008, a fact that has drawn criticism from fans across the globe.

As reported by The Los Angeles Times, court documents show that Britney's attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, asked that Jodi Montgomery, the temporary, licensed professional conservator overseeing her case since September, be named permanent conservator of Spears’ personal affairs. Documents note that the 38-year-old singer is “strongly opposed” to having her father return to his conservatorship role.

“We are now at a point where the conservatorship must be changed substantially in order to reflect the major changes in her current lifestyle and her stated wishes,” wrote Ingham in documents filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The development coincides with the viral #FreeBritney movement, a campaign of Britney's fans who fear that Britney is being held in the conservatorship against her will by her father and is hindering her quality of life. The conservatorship stems from when Britney was twice committed to a psychiatric ward in 2008; since then, Jaime allegedly forbade Britney from driving a car, voting, spending money without permission, and has had her calls and messages monitored. According to the movement, a broken "rule" would have resulted in her children being taken away.

“Fans and advocates argue that the conservatorship was established for financial reasons instead of the treatment of Britney’s mental health,” said organizers in a statement. “[Wednesday's] hearing is so important because Judge Brenda Penny will evaluate the role of Britney’s temporary conservator Jodi Montgomery and hopefully, Britney can speak to the judge.”