Britney Spears's conservatorship to remain unchanged until 2021

The American singer has asked for her care manager to permanently replace her father as her conservator

Britney Spears wanted care manager Jodi Montgomery, who has been serving as her conservator temporarily, to do so permanently. AFP 

Britney Spears has failed to remove her father from controlling her business and personal affairs after a Los Angeles court made no immediate changes to her 12-year court-appointed conservatorship on Wednesday.

The pop star, 38, had asked for her care manager to permanently replace her father Jamie as her conservator.

According to a court document posted online by fans, the closed-door court hearing extended the current arrangements until February 2021. However, Reuters reports it has been unable to verify the document.

Jamie Spears was appointed conservator in 2008 after the pop star experienced several public breakdowns. The singer's care manager, Jodi Montgomery, took over in a temporary capacity late last year when Jamie Spears suffered a bout of ill health.

A lawyer for the singer had submitted documents ahead of the private hearing saying Spears was "strongly opposed" to having her father return to control her affairs. The documents gave no reasons for her stance.

Spears revived her career after her breakdown but she pulled out of a Las Vegas concert residency last year. She has not performed publicly since October 2018.

Outside the courthouse, some two dozen fans from the small but vocal #FreeBritney campaign held a demonstration, shouting, "The conservatorship has got to go!"

Spears has not publicly commented on the campaign but her father has dismissed it as a joke.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday offered its support to Spears.

"If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and get out of her conservatorship, we are here to help her," the ACLU wrote in a tweet.

Spears has almost never spoken publicly about the conservatorship matter, and court hearings and documents in the case are shrouded in privacy, although last year she addressed the court at her request, suggesting she was seeking changes.

In the papers, Spears praises the conservatorship and its work overall, saying it “rescued her from a collapse, exploitation by predatory individuals and financial ruin" and that it made her "able to regain her position as a world class entertainer".