Fate of Britney Spears' Conservatorship About to Be Decided in Court Hearing

Britney Spears has been praying for it, her fans have been begging for it … and now her monumental conservatorship hearing is about to get underway, with her freedom hanging in the balance.

Fans have shown up in droves outside the downtown L.A. courthouse for the hearing that’s scheduled to start at 1:30 PT. While Britney’s dad, Jamie, and her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, have both asked the judge to end the conservatorship without any medical evaluation of Britney … there’s no guarantee that will happen.

That’s the most interesting part of what’s about to play out — We’re expecting Judge Brenda Penny to put her cards on the table, and reveal what she thinks is best for Britney at this point. It is possible she could end the conservatorship altogether today, but ordering the medical evaluation would mean delaying that.

While the conservatorship of Britney’s person could be decided by the end of Friday, the conservatorship of her estate will almost certainly continue, and could go on for a very long time due to the complexity of her finances.

She’s been under the conservatorship for 13 years, with plenty of medical history and files on hand for the judge to use as reference in making her final decision.

Britney’s obviously got a lot riding on today’s hearing, and ditto for her fiance, Sam Asghari. As we first told you … Britney and Sam’s plans to get married, have kids and buy a home are all in a holding pattern until the judge makes a decision.