On the bright side, this time around Britney Spears actually has a valid reason not to show up for her court hearings.
With the 26-year-old singer holed up at UCLA Medical Center for at least the next two weeks, the star's various legal teams are occupied at the Los Angeles County Courthouse for two separate hearings Monday for Spears' custody and conservator dealings.
First up was a progress hearing in the singer's ongoing battle with Kevin Federline over their two sons, which kicked off just after 8:30 a.m.
Both Spears' legal point guard Anne Kiley and Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, were on hand for the very brief proceeding, and as expected, there was no tinkering with the standing order.
"In the end, no change was made," court spokesman Allan Parachini said, adding that the hearing was continued after a brief closed-door meeting between the attorneys and Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon. (View the minute order from the hearing.)
"It's a very fluid landscape that's changing day by day," Kaplan told reporters outside the courthouse.
As it is, Spears' current custody rights for sons Sean Preston and Jayden are practically nil: She hasn't seen them since her Jan. 3 custody standoff and inaugural hospitalization. The commissioner overseeing the case stripped Spears of monitored visitation privileges.
She was granted phone calls with the boys during a Jan. 23 court date; Spears was personally expected to ask for more time with the boys at that hearing, but she ultimately bolted before making it into the courtroom. It is not known whether she has had contact with them since her latest trip to the psych ward.
Monday's session was meant to explore the possibility of restoring some visitation rights to the star within the confines of a "therapeutic setting"—a request rendered moot, as she remains on an involuntary two-week hold.
Despite some reports that the custody hearing would include a motion from Spears' coconservators to remove Kiley's firm, Trope and Trope, from the case, no change has been made to the singer's legal representation. (Proving its still very much involved, Trope and Trope on Monday subpoenaed Michael Sands, Kaplan's publicist, for deposition in the case.)
The next custody hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19.
Meanwhile, Monday's main legal event is expected to kick off at 2 p.m. at the same courthouse as the custody hearing.
The battle royale hearing will determine whether the temporary conservatorship granted to Britney's father and Wallet over Spears' estate—including having power over all financial and medical decisions relating to the singer—will be extended.
Attorneys for Spears, reportedly with help from manager Sam Lutfi, are expected to argue either that the conservatorship should be removed entirely or, at the very least, that Spears' often estranged relationship with her father should prevent him from being among the conservators.