EXPLAINER: Britney Spears’ conservatorship, and its endgame

By ANDREW DALTON
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge this week could end the conservatorship that has controlled Britney Spears’ life and money for nearly 14 years. Conservatorships like hers are established when a court finds someone has a severely diminished mental capacity and needs someone to make financial decisions and major life choices for them. Judge Brenda Penny has ultimate power over the conservatorship, and the sole power to end it. Spears’ father had most of the control over the conservatorship since it began in 2008. But he was suspended in September. That control, while it lasts, now belongs to two professionals appointed by the court.