Britney’s Father Retains Control of Her Assets

Troubled pop star Britney Spears and her assets will remain under the control and management of her 56-year old father, Jamie Spears, until the end of October, a judge ruled Thursday.

In January, a court appointed Mr. Spears conservator of Brit and her assets, after the singer was admitted to a psychiatric ward. Alleged psychological problems, erratic behavior and legal issues caused the 26-year-old popstar to loose the control of her property.

Now, a U.S. court ruled yesterday that Jamie will retain control of the pop singer's finances and personal affairs for a few more months.

Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Reva Goetz yesterday decided to extend the conservatorship over Brit’s personal affairs, which was supposed to end in July, for another five months, granting control of the popstar's business matters and legal issues to her father and a lawyer.

However, Goetz said the conservatorship could end sooner, depending on the progress made by Britney. The judge will be informed in October of how much progress has been made by the singer.

The ruling came after a meeting between Reva Goetz, who is presiding over the matter, and attorneys for Spears and others involved in the case. Goetz said Britney was not so happy with the decision, adding that she was not willingly agreeing to the extension.

“Regarding the conservatorship of the person, I understand that Ms. Spears is reluctantly agreeing to extend those letters,” E! Online quoted Reva Goetz as saying. "Those orders could be terminated earlier. A status hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28."

The extension was based on the request and suggestion of Britney's doctors, who have indicated that the singer has made significant improvement, but it is still in progress.

Britney indeed is showing remarkable signs of restarting her professional life. The onetime pop sensation has been nominated for Best Female Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, set to take place on September 7th. She also said that she will start working on a new album this summer

Last week, a long-running child-custody battle between Britney Spears and her ex-husband Kevin Federline ended, leaving the pop singer with more time with her toddlers and K-Fed with more money.

Under the terms of the settlement deal approved by Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, Federline is awarded the sole custody of Sean Preston, 2 1/2, and Jayden James, 1 ½, and their mother Spears is allowed to visit the kids more often. The pop singer will now have three visits a week from her toddlers, with at least two overnight visits.

The ruling also requires Spears to increase monthly child support payments to her former husband Kevin from $15,000 to $20,000 a month. The settlement documents show the child support increase went into effect on July 15. In addition, the agreement includes a one-off $250,000 payment by Spears to Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan.