Britney Spears’ conservatorship could finally come to an end today

A judge will decide whether to terminate the conservatorship that has exercised vast control over the pop superstar’s life and money for nearly 14 years.

Britney Spears’ independence day may finally have arrived.

At a hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Friday, a judge will decide whether to terminate the conservatorship that has exercised vast control over the pop superstar’s life and money for nearly 14 years.

With no significant opposition from anyone involved, it appears likely Judge Brenda Penny will dissolve the legal arrangement. Britney Spears’ attorney, her parents, and the court appointees who control the conservatorship all publicly support termination.

Jodi Montgomery, the conservator who oversees the singer’s life and medical decisions, has developed a care plan with her therapists and doctors to guide her through the end of the conservatorship and its aftermath.

But Penny has not given overt signals to what she will decide, and she has considerable discretion and power. Legal or bureaucratic hurdles, or lingering concerns over Spears’ medical care or finances, could still slow down what might seem like the inevitable end.

It is not clear whether Spears, 39, will take part in the hearing. Fans who have demanded the court #FreeBritney, whom she has credited with bringing her to this point, will be outside the courthouse in significant numbers.

Penny sided decisively with Spears and her attorney Mathew Rosengart at the last hearing in September, when she suspended the singer’s father James Spears from the conservatorship that he had controlled at least in part since he first sought it in 2008.