Britney Spears’ Mom Comes to Her Defense Amid Conservatorship Battle

Britney Spears’ mother Lynn Spears is coming to her defense in new court filings amid her ongoing conservatorship battle. According to the documents, the pop star’s mom claims Spears has been “able to care for” herself for years and is asking the court to allow Spears to obtain her own attorney in the continued legal confrontation with her father, who remains Britney’s conservator.

Lynn’s attorneys have filed a petition with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, calling Spears’ testimony last week “very courageous” and urging the courts to rule on Spears’ side. The documents acknowledge the multiple reasons that landed Spears in her current arrangement, but also recognize that Spears as well her finances have greatly changed over the last 13 years. “Now, and for the past many years, [Britney Spears] is able to care for her person and in fact has, inside of the parameters of this conservatorship, earned literally hundreds of millions of dollars as an international celebrity,” the petition reads.

As a New Yorker article revealed, Spears did make attempts to hire her own counsel but was stopped by the judge who oversaw the conservatorship. Without the testimony of Spears, the judge ruled that she did not have the capacity the obtain her own legal counsel. “Her capacity is certainly different today than it was in 2008,” her mother’s petition states. Along with the request for Spears’ attorneys to be recognized, Spears’ petition also asked the judge to adhere to some of her other requests from her testimony, including that her father be removed as a conservator, that she regains some of her autonomy by being allowed “to ride in her boyfriend’s car,” “own her own money,” “have her IUD removed,” and that the conservatorship is ended without her “having to endure another evaluation.”

“This Motion to Appoint Private Counsel is of the utmost importance and may very well impact each and every of the other requests submitted by [Spears] in her live testimony. Clearly [Spears] needs private counsel to advise her as to her basic rights in this conservatorship,” the petition states. “Recognizing both the demands of the conservatorship and Ms. Spears’ desire for more autonomy, Petitioner believes that a Guardian ad Litem for this limited purpose is the only way to both honor her wish to select counsel without a medical evaluation and protect her interests,” it adds. The news comes after Spears’ attorney Samuel Ingham resigned. On Wednesday, an attorney for Jodi Montgomery, who’s in charge of Spears personal estate, asked the court to appoint another guardian for Spears. Montgomery’s lawyers claimed the job of hiring a new attorney for the star “is beyond her powers” and would be “inappropriate in light of Ms. Spears’ recent criticisms of her conservatorship.”