LOS ANGELES (AFP) — A Los Angeles court on Friday awarded Britney Spears' father control of the singer's affairs following her admission to a hospital psychiatric unit for evaluation, officials said.
Court Commissioner Reva Goetz named Jamie Spears and an attorney as conservators of the troubled singer's multi-million dollar estate, one day after she was rushed to hospital amid renewed concern for her mental health.
Goetz' decision came in an emergency hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court called by Spears' parents. The decision allows Jamie Spears broad license to take decisions on his daughter's behalf.
A conservatorship is created when a court rules that an individual is incapable of caring for themselves or properly managing their affairs.
In a separate ruling, the commissioner issued a restraining order against Spears' manager Sam Lutfi, according to reports.
Lutfi's position in Spears' inner circle has been the subject of intense scrutiny by celebrity media, with the singer's parents reportedly accusing him of putting their daughter's health and assets at risk.
Before Friday's hearing, Lutfi lashed out at Spears' family in comments reported by People magazine.
"I object to this. Britney is fully capable of handling her own finances. Her doctors are capable of handling her health care," he told People.
"You'd think in a time like this, the family would be at the hospital taking care of their daughter, rather than fighting for her money. How sad."
The court rulings come after Spears was admitted to hospital on Thursday for the second time in less than a month.
She was placed in the psychiatric unit of the UCLA Medical Center and placed on a 72-hour order used for people deemed a danger to themselves or others.
The hospital drama in the early hours of Thursday came after a psychiatrist treating Spears had contacted Los Angeles police to set the events in motion.
The drama is the latest in a series of setbacks for Spears, who was stripped of visitation rights to her two baby sons in early January shortly after her first mental health scare.
During that incident the singer was wheeled out of her home following a stand-off which began when she refused to release her two children, Sean Preston, aged two, and Jayden James, one, to ex-husband Kevin Federline's bodyguard.
Spears was taken to the Cedars Sinai Medical Center for mental evaluation before she discharged herself two days later.
Spears, one of the most successful pop stars of her generation, has been locked in the custody feud with Federline since the couple separated in 2006.
A judge limited Spears' access to her children in October after she failed to submit to random drug testing as demanded at an earlier hearing where the court ruled she was a "habitual and continuous drug user."
Her latest attempt to regain visitation rights to her two sons was rejected last week after she failed to appear for a Los Angeles court hearing.
Spears has been rarely out of the tabloid headlines since her split from Federline in late 2006.
She was repeatedly photographed out partying while wearing no underwear, bizarrely shaved her head at a public salon, and attacked a paparazzi's car with an umbrella before finally entering rehab.
Spears shot to superstardom in late 1998 with her smash-hit debut album "Baby One More Time," which she followed with another chart-topping success the following year, "Oops! ... I Did It Again."
Forbes this week said Spears remained one of the top 20 richest female singers in the world, ranking 14th after earning eight million dollars between 2006 and 2007.
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