Jamie Spears will remain in control of his daughter Britney Spears’s finances and other aspects of the pop star’s life until July 31, a judge ruled Wednesday in an unscheduled hearing.

No reporters were present for the proceeedings, although two sources confirm to PEOPLE that Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz extended the temporary conservatorship that had been ordered on Feb. 4, during Spears’s second stint in a psychiatric facility.

“I can confirm that the order was issued this afternoon, but I don’t know the attorneys’ motives,” Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini tells PEOPLE.

The temporary conservatorship had been scheduled to expire March 10. Hearings are still scheduled before Goetz on that date and on March 17, sources say.

Jamie Spears has been overseeing his 26-year-old daughter’s well-being and her estimated $100 million fortune since Feb. 1, when Goetz named him and Andrew Wallet temporary co-conservators, giving them the right to employ bodyguards and restrict her visitors.

A source close to Britney says she’s okay with her dad being in control. On Feb. 23, she was allowed to spend time with her sons Preston, 2, and Jayden, 17 months, for the first time since her Jan. 3 standoff with the police, and she has had regular visits since. “She is getting along well with her father and enjoying the closeness and support of her family,” says a source.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears’s pal Sam Lutfi was served Thursday with a temporary restraining order to keep him away from the troubled pop star, according to court papers.

The order was sought by the temporary co-conservators of Spears’s $100 million estate – her father Jamie and an attorney.

Lutfi had been accused by Britney’s mother of drugging, verbally abusing and controlling the singer, who has been in-and-out hospitalized in two different psych wards recently. He was served at 11 a.m. as he left his apartment in Westside Los Angeles.

Source: People Magazine

The man who claims to be Britney Spears’s new lawyer says that the pop star is being “deprived of her Constitutional rights” and tells PEOPLE he is seeking a “return to normalcy” when it comes to Spears’s living and legal situations.

Jon Eardley, a lawyer with practices in Washington, D.C., New York and Whittier, Calif., filed a complaint in U.S. District Court on behalf of Spears on Thursday. He lashed out against the existing conservatorship as a “violation of [Spears's] civil rights,” and requested the case be moved from California state court to a federal court.

“I see the case as a civil rights case,” he tells PEOPLE. “These are issues of confinement. Very serious confinement. Not allowed to contact her friends. Not allowed to use the phone. Not allowed to come and go as you please. Bodyguards controlling you and so forth.”

Spears’s father Jamie was granted temporary conservatorship – allowing legal control of his daughter’s well-being and finances – after Spears was placed under an involuntary, emergency hold at the UCLA Medical Center’s psychiatric ward late last month.

Since her release on Feb. 6, she has spent much of her time at her Studio City home, and when she does go out, she is usually driven by a bodyguard. In court papers, Eardley states: “She is being confined by the conservator to the private prison of her own home.”

On Friday, a Superior Court spokesperson said that the existing conservatorship and other orders “are still in effect,” and that court officials are unaware of any federal court action or scheduled hearings on the matter.

“The saddest part [of the legal maneuvering] is it is all to [Britney's] detriment,” says a legal insider. “The limited conservatorship puts in place medical care and protection of her assets that may be put at risk by the distraction and expense of having to get such an opportunistic and counterproductive action dismissed.”

In fact, legal experts say Eardley’s legal gambit is unlikely to succeed. “It’s not like the judge read papers filed by one side and made decisions without giving each side due process,” says Loyola Law School Professor Stan Goldman, who is not involved in the case.

“It would be quite surprising if the federal court granted a hearing on this,” he adds, “and a total shocker if it ruled against the conservatorship.”

In addition, the Superior Court has found that Spears “lacks the capacity” to retain counsel of her choosing. Because of that, lawyer Adam Streisand, who went to court on Feb. 4 to challenge the conservatorship on her behalf, removed himself himself from the case.

Eardley says he has not met the pop star, but Spears sought him out: “She reached out by phone. I have no idea how [she got my number].”

The attorney says he doesn’t normally represent celebrity clients. But now Eardley has hired spokesperson Michael Sands, who until recently worked with Kevin Federline’s lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan.

When asked if Spears’s often-erratic behavior posed a danger to herself and others, Eardley answered, “I don’t,” adding that he sees far worse cases on the streets.

“In downtown Los Angeles I’m surrounded by people talking to themselves and having fits on the street,” says Eardley. “They are out in public. They are not being institutionalized.”

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears’s family members tightened their grip on her finances Thursday as the court extended her father’s co-conservator role and granted her brother influence over her day-to-day expenses.

L.A. Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz made the rulings amid signs that the singer’s family has helped keep Britney out of trouble since her early release from a psych ward.

Her father Jamie Spears has been overseeing his 26-year-old daughter’s well-being and her estimated $100-million fortune since Feb. 1, when Goetz named him and Andrew Wallet temporary co-conservators – giving them the right to employ bodyguards who control Britney’s actions and restrict her visitors.

On Thursday, Jamie and Wallet requested that the status quo be maintained until March 10 because a psychiatric evaluation of Britney, due Wednesday, had not yet been submitted. The commissioner granted the extension, scheduling a hearing that day to consider extending the conservatorship even further.

Britney’s father and Wallet were also granted the power to handle the singer’s taxes, and Britney’s brother Bryan, 30, was named as a trustee of her trust. According to court papers, trust funds are used “to pay for Britney’s continued security, and to pay for her medicine, food, other day-to-day expenses and for psychiatric and other medical services.”

Attorney Jeryll Cohen, representing Jamie, says they still haven’t been able to serve a restraining order against Britney’s pal Sam Lutfi who, Cohen says, seems to be avoiding service. Lynne Spears has accused Lutfi of drugging and verbally abusing her daughter.

Since Britney’s father has taken charge of her affairs, she has kept an uncharacteristically low profile with relatively low-key outings: shopping with her mom, Lynne, and regular trips to the Millennium Dance Complex.

“She’s getting proper medical care and has professional security. The chaos has been removed from the situation,” says one legal insider.

Meanwhile, as Jamie was in court, Britney’s mother, Lynne, was spotted heading out of town at Los Angeles International Airport Thursday.

Source: People Magazine

Here are the headlines from today’s court hearing:

Jamie Spears is still the co-conservator of Britney’s estate, as is Andrew Wallet.

The Commissioner did not give the conservators the power to fire Trope and Trope, Brit’s divorce lawyers.

The Commissioner said, based on the restraining order, Sam Lutfi can have no contact whatsoever with Britney — including e-mails, phone contact, etc.

The Commish extended the conservatorship to Valentine’s Day.

The Commissioner said Adam Streisand had no legal basis for claiming he’s Britney’s new lawyer. There will be a hearing at some point to determine just how mentally competent Britney is.

Source: TMZ

Britney Spears expressed “strong desire” against her father’s temporary control over her affairs – including her $40 million fortune, a lawyer said in court Monday.

Her father’s conservatorship “would only cause further distress, agitation and estrangement,” said estate attorney Adam Streisand, who asserted he was hired by Spears over the weekend.

In addition, Streisand argued that co-temporary conservator Andrew Wallet “simply doesn’t have the knowledge” to manage Spears’s vast estate (which he valued at $40 million), he said at a hearing.

Streisand, who’s reportedly related to the singer of the same name, instead suggested that Northern Trust Bank be named as the temporary guardian of her wealth.

Jamie Spears, wearing a navy suit, was present in the courtroom, looked solemn, but did not speak.

His lawyers began with an opening statement asserting that Jamie Spears has no interest in taking her wealth, but rather watching over it until his daughter recovers, with the eventual hope she’s reunited with her children.

Wallet vehemently argued that the court be shown proof that Spears was of sound mind to hire such an attorney.

A public defender for Spears was also present, and testified that he met with the singer at the hospital Sunday for about 10 minutes.

He added that in his opinion, the pop star “does not understand the nature of these proceedings” or their impact on her future. He added, “I think she lacks capacity” to hire a private lawyer.

It was also revealed by Spears’s attorneys that despite a restraining order issued Friday, the singer’s pal Sam Lutfi had “spoken to Ms. Spears by telephone.”

The father’s lawyers expressed difficulty at subpoenaing Lutfi with the order, saying he would not answer the door when a person came to serve him recently.

The court was then closed to the public, and no rulings of whether to replace her father as temporary conservator have been reached thus far.

Source: People Magazine

A Las Vegas fashion consultant is suing Britney Spears for damages in excess of $50,000, claiming the popwreck stopped paying her for her services. In a lawsuit filed on January 18 in Clark County District Court, and first reported by Norm Clark, Nancy Rosu claims that Brit had her buying clothes on her behalf, then reimbursed her later. But in August 2007, Rosu alleges Brit stopped paying her back.

Rosu is suing for breach of contract and, among other things, intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Source: TMZ

The judge in Britney Spears’ other court case — the one for driving without a valid license back in August — continued the case today for the last time. Superior Court Judge T.K Herman said if the legal matter is not resolved by February 20, it will go to trial.

TMZ has learned both sides are still working out a deal. We’re told prosecutors wanted to put Brit on 12 months probation, but agreed to let go of probation if she agreed to pay the maximum fine of $3,000. Brit’s lawyer, Michael Flanagan, won’t accept those terms and wants the misdemeanor charge lowered to a fix-it ticket.

Source: TMZ

Mama Spears is stepping up…sort of.

Lynne tells Life & Style she blames herself for Britney’s problems. “What mother wouldn’t?”

She feels particularly responsible for not always being around while Brit’s career was taking off.  “I wish I’d been there more while she was touring,” Lynne says. “But I couldn’t be. I had the other kids [brother Bryan, now 30, and sister Jamie Lynn, now 16] to look after.”

Good stuff, right? But here’s where she loses us:

“I didn’t raise my children to have Hollywood careers,” she notes. “This all just exploded in my face, and big dreams became big headaches.”

C’mon, Lynne. Brit didn’t drive herself to the Micky Mouse Club auditions. Just like Jamie Lynn didn’t fly herself out to L.A. to grab the lead in Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101.

You’re on the right track, but don’t think for a second that an entertainment career wasn’t what YOU wanted for your children.

Source: E! Online

It’s exactly one year since Britney filed for divorce from Kevin!  Check out the article, posted this time last year.

Britney Spears ran over the foot of a female sheriff’s deputy during the pandemonium over the singer’s court appearance last Friday – but there is no criminal investigation pending, an LAPD official tells PEOPLE.

“As Ms. Spears was leaving the courthouse, a deputy was trying to keep cameramen back, and the deputy’s foot was run over,” according to LAPD spokeswoman Ana Aguirre. “But this case is closed and appears to have been just an accident.”

Images posted on TMZ.com show the singer’s white Mercedes-Benz leaving the downtown Stanley Mosk Courthouse, with a deputy standing near her rear right tire.

As for the deputy’s condition, Sgt. Naranjo of the sheriff’s department said, “I can’t comment on how bad the deputy’s injuries are.

Source: People Magazine

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the LAPD is conducting an investigation into a traffic mishap Friday, when Britney Spears ran over an L.A. County Sheriff deputy’s foot.

We’re told the “traffic collision complaint” was filed by the Sheriff’s Department and the LAPD is conducting an “active investigation.” We’re told the LAPD is looking at the possibility of hit and run.

The incident occurred as Brit was leaving the L.A. County Courthouse after her custody hearing.

Source: TMZ

Britney Spears drove over a Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy’s foot when she left the courthouse at her last custody hearing! Drivin’ properler is hard, y’all!

TMZ has learned that an officer on duty at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in L.A. was trying to help Brit leave her custody hearing, when Brit rolled over her foot! The officer was one of the brave souls helping Brit maneuver through a crowd of photogs as she pulled out of the garage. In the video, broadcast live on TMZ on Oct. 26, you can hear an officer yelling at Spears to “Make a left, make a LEFT!” — but the Pumpkinmobile ding-danger went right!

Sources tell TMZ that the victim has no broken bones but is hobbling around the courthouse on crutches and has been reassigned to light duty. Just a week earlier, Spears ran over the foot of a TMZ photog in Beverly Hills.

TMZ will try to get the officer’s sock to sell on eBay.

Story developing …

Source: TMZ

Looks like Britney Spears’ courtroom days aren’t anywhere near done - according to Brit’s pal Sam, the pop princess plans to pursue legal action her old assistant Kalie Machado for violating a non-disclosure agreement!

The former employee, who worked for Brit for less than two months, just sold a story to Us Weekly, detailing what she claims are private details of Brit’s mid- and post-divorce state of mind. From what we’ve read so far, the “details” aren’t much but a re-hash of what we’ve already read in other articles, but we hear Team Britney is pissed and Brit’s lawyers want to make an example of this former employee coming forward and telling supposed “stories” about her.

Sounds like Brit’s assistant might want to set some of that Us Weekly money aside - she’s gonna need a good lawyer!

Source: X17 Online

Between her hit-and-run in August and her custody battle with Kevin Federline, Britney Spears sure is keeping her lawyers busy!

And her attorneys got even more business handed to them on Thursday: A lawsuit filed against Spears by her former manager, Johnny Wright.

TMZ reports that while Spears, 25, and Wright parted ways in 2003, the manager claims she contractually owes him commissions for deals negotiated on her behalf through February 2008. And, according to Wright, Brit stopped paying in December of 2006.

Wright exclusively tells Usmagazine.com: “I have a great deal of affection and empathy for her. As you know, I was a part of her career from the early days, but we have contractual disagreements that unfortunately can only be resolved in the courts, despite my wishes!”

Source: Us Weekly

For three of the most turbulent months of the pop star’s life, Kalie Machado was a constant by Britney Spears‘ side.

Plucked from a hairdresser’s assistant gig in December 2006 to serve as Spears’ personal assistant, Machado, 23, soon found herself a featured player in Brit’s daily soap opera, a drinking companion and shoulder to cry on.

Now living back in Northern California, Machado tells Us all the heartbreaking details of Brit’s breakup with Kevin Federline, and how Spears, 25, even desperately tried to win him back.

Unable to move on, Spears hung her wedding dress in the bedroom of her Malibu home. She also kept framed photographs of she and K-Fed all over the house. “She would ask, ‘Why did he do this to me?’” Machado tells Us, adding: “It just made her crazy and depressed.”

Source: Us Weekly

Britney Spears has dodged a bullet.

The L.A. City Attorney has dismissed hit and run charges against the popwreck, who struck a car last August and drove off without leaving a note. The charge was dismissed in court today, after the judge was informed Britney settled the dispute with the car owner. TMZ first reported Brit paid around a grand, plus car rental fees.

As for the other criminal charge — driving without a California license — Britney plead not guilty. Her next appearance is set for November 26. The judge ordered her to appear. But guess what? Britney’s dance card is full. There’s a hearing in her custody case that same day. It’s hard juggling all that legal stuff, y’all.

Source: TMZ

Britney Spears was booked Monday night for her two driving-related misdemeanor charges.

“At around 9:25 this evening, Ms. Spears turned herself in to the Van Nuys Jail for booking,” said LAPD officer Mike Lopez. “This was by court order, which is common for a misdemeanor charge.”

A smiling Spears, wearing a short black dress, a black jacket and carrying a white purse, was accompanied by pal Sam Lufti and her lawyer, J. Michael Flanagan, when she surrendered at the jail.

The singer, 25, was fingerprinted, photographed and released about an hour later. Officer Lopez says she was neither handcuffed or detained in a holding cell, and described her demeanor as “cooperative.”

LAPD says their policy is to not release the booking photo.

On Oct. 9, the popstar was ordered by L.A. Superior Court Commissioner Rebecca Omens to be booked.

She will be arraigned for two charges – hit-and-run causing property damage and driving without a valid California driver’s license – on Oct. 25.

Spears faces up to a year in jail if convicted, but Flanagan previously told PEOPLE, “We’re working toward a resolution of the case, but we don’t have a firm deal yet.”

The charges stem from a fender bender in a San Fernando Valley store parking lot on Aug. 6.

Spears made a wide right turn into a parking space and scraped another car’s bumper, and then left without leaving a note.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears was issued an interim license Tuesday from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, an agency spokesman says.

“She has fulfilled her requirements for a California driver’s license,” said the DMV’s Mike Marando.

L.A. Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, who’s overseeing her custody case, had ordered her to show proof that she was a legal driver. Her lawyer told PEOPLE that among the reasons she lost temporary custody was because she lacked a valid license.

On Monday, Spears, 25, handed off sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, to a bodyguard for ex Kevin Federline, then drove with a friend to a DMV office in Van Nuys, Calif.

“Ms. Spears actually took and passed a written test in April,” Marando says. “She was fingerprinted and photographed yesterday. She will be issued a formal license in the mail soon.”

Last month, the singer was charged with misdemeanor driving without a valid California license and hit-and-run following a fender-bender in a store parking lot on Aug. 6.

According to the DMV, Spears had never been issued a California license, despite having homes in Los Angeles for years. The state requires people to apply for a license within 10 days of residence.

Another hearing in the custody case is set for Wednesday.

Source: People Magazine

Sporting dark brown hair and eyeglasses, Britney Spears breezed through some shopping in an upscale Atlanta mall over the weekend.

“Unless you actually spoke to her for a minute, you wouldn’t have recognized her,” Juicy Couture assistant manager Jake Barnaby told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. Spears, 25, reportedly told Barnaby that she was in Atlanta to escape stress and the paparazzi and to relax.

“She was very well put together and she was really quiet,” Barnaby told the paper. “The people with her were actually causing more commotion. After a while, it was like, ‘Oh, please. You’re nobody. Stop.’ ”

One saleswoman told PEOPLE, “She seemed in good spirits and was very sweet and complimentary to everyone.”

“She was looking for something to wear that night and spent way less than $1,000,” the woman added. “Really, she was just in a rush, trying to get in and out. She was done in about 20 minutes.”

Spears ended up purchasing a purple dog carrier, a brown eyelet bikini from the sale rack and a shirt or two, the saleswoman said.

Before heading to Georgia, Spears was charged Friday with hit-and-run causing property damage and driving without a valid license, said the Los Angeles City Attorney.

Source: People Magazine