Just when you thought you’d heard the last of Britney Spears’ former companion Sam Lutfi, he pokes his head out of the sand.

OK! has confirmed that Brit’s one-time self-described “manager” will be attempting to end his 6-month-long ban from being within 250 yards of the singer.

Sam, who rose from complete obscurity almost a year ago when he quickly became a fixture in the passenger seat of Britney’s Mercedes-Benz, has been under the restrictions of a temporary restraining order since February. That order, which was most recently extended in April, expires on July 31, and Sam’s lawyers will be making their case in an L.A. court on Thursday that it’s time for the ban to be lifted.

In typically overdramatic fashion for Sam, he has refused to have his side of the argument heard by commissioner Reva Goetz, who initially signed off on the order following a request from Brit’s mother Lynne Spears. Instead, the hearing on whether or not to extend the restraining order will be argued before a Judge Bobb.

However, even if Sam’s lawyers are convincing enough to have the order lifted, it’s doubtful that Brit’s dad, Jamie Spears, who is still in control of her life for the time-being, will allow him near his daughter. Says the source, “I don’t think Jamie will be calling up ol’ Sammy to come over for a BBQ anytime soon!”

Speaking of Britney and her father, tomorrow is also the date that lawyers for the conservatorship over the singer’s estate and person will all appear before commissioner Goetz to set a date for the trial that will determine if the conservatorship should be made permanent.

Thursday had originally been slated as the start date for the trial, but commissioner Goetz requested more medical and psychiatric evaluation to determine if the pop star is fit to stand trial, so the trial was delayed.

Last month, Sam Ingham, the court-appointed laywer representing Brit, told the commissioner that it would be “harmful” for his client to be involved in any “litigation or depositions” because of her “fluid” state of mind.

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WENN

Britney Spears’ days under her father’s thumb are numbered. But it’s still a pretty big number.

Sources tell E! News that the popster’s conservatorship likely won’t be dissolved until the end of this year, despite rumors that the 26-year-old could regain control over her estate as soon as tomorrow, following a hearing on various issues pertaining to the arrangement.

Instead, attorneys for Jamie Spears are planning to ask Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz, who’s been presiding over the matter since the conservatorship was instated Feb. 1, to extend the order until the fall, according to a source familiar with the situation.

But while that sounds as if it could be grounds for more legal wrangling on Britney’s part, it’s unlikely that the recuperating songstress is going to fight what appears to be working—at least in terms of Britney being more of a virulent attention-getter as opposed to a prayer-inspiring basket case.

Following Britney’s second forced hospitalization in January, Jamie and attorney Andrew Wallet were appointed temporary coconservators of the singer’s estate. Her dad also got a say as to who she came into contact with and when, as well as a $2,500 weekly allowance so that he could focus full-time on his oldest little girl.

Since Jamie took the reins of his daughter’s finances, medical care and overall welfare, she’s slowly rebuilt her relationship with her toddler sons, received sage wisdom from Mel Gibson, guest-starred twice on How I Met Your Mother, shot a video for Madonna’s upcoming concert tour and, ahem, gotten the closest she’s been to her prebaby bod since…well, since before she had her babies.

Britney’s legal camp says that she’s waiting until the conservatorship has ended to petition for joint custody of Sean Preston and Jayden James, who will be 3 and 2 in September, respectively. But last week, in handing sole custody over to ex-hubby Kevin Federline, a court granted her more time with the boys each week, as well as an extra overnight visit.

And, with no help from her dad, the “Toxic” blonde’s “Piece of Me” scored a nomination for Best Female Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, which takes place Sept. 7 in Hollywood.

Also to be dealt with Thursday—the Spears’ family’s temporary restraining order against former Britney bud Sam Lutfi, who Jamie and Lynne Spears accused of making a variety of manipulative moves while their daughter was emotionally and mentally vulnerable.

We hear that Jamie’s camp won’t move to make the order permanent—a motion Lutfi had been geared up to fight—and will just let the bad blood evaporate. Britney would still theoretically be barred from seeing Lutfi anyway because of Jamie’s continued oversight of who she spends her time with.

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WENN

Britney Spears’ custody case may finally be settled, but the conservatorship battle between she and her father Jamie Spears continues in Los Angeles Superior Court Thursday.

Court papers obtained by ET back in June revealed that the conservatorship over the pop star’s estate — which the L.A. Superior Court placed in the hands of her dad Jamie and lawyer Andrew Wallet in February — will take place in two sessions: The morning session will address financial issues surrounding the arrangement, while the afternoon session will examine the conservatorship itself.

Combined, the sessions will be used to determine if the current arrangement should be extended, or to set a hearing or trial regarding a permanent conservatorship, if one is ruled necessary.

Also being addressed Thursday is the temporary restraining order placed upon Sam Lutfi, Britney’s former self-proclaimed “manager.” The order, which required Lutfi to stay 250 yeards away from the singer, was extended back in April through July 31.

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WENN

Sources say that Kevin Federline has agreed to return the sex tapes that he made with Britney Spears along with leniency with visitation, in exchange for her helping him launch a successful showbiz career.

An insider at Star Magazine says, “On the condition she return the favor by hooking him up wit showbiz contacts, Kevin agreed to keep the racy tapes they made together locked away-and he may even turn them over to her in the future…..He’s also promised to be more flexible about accommodating Britney’s schedule with Sean and Jayden…He’s talking about letting her take a supervised trip with the boys.”

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WENN

Britney Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline is reportedly shocked the singer didn’t fight harder for custody of their two young sons.

Federline was awarded sole custody of Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one, earlier this month, following a bitter 18-month court battle.

It means he now has to juggle being a full-time parent to his sons and looking after his two children from a previous marriage.

And he is said to be adamant that Spears’ should take an active role in bringing up the boys.

A source tells British magazine Closer, “Kevin loves his sons, but he didn’t aim for sole custody. He wanted to be a co-parent and didn’t expect Britney not to fight for custody. He never wanted full responsibility. He believes both parents should take an active role. It’s tough being a single parent, plus he already has another two children.”

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WENN

The California court system can finally breathe a sigh of relief — one week after OK! exclusively revealed that Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline had finally reached an agreement over their prolonged custody battle for their two children, OK! has confirmed that the paperwork has been signed and the matter is Spears vs. Federline is officially over!

“Commissioner Gordon has signed off on the settlement,” K-Fed’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan tells OK! exclusively. “As of this moment, the matter is officially done.”

This announcement comes more than a week after Kaplan spoke exclusively to OK! to announce that he and Brit’s attorney Laura Wasser had worked out an agreement between the feuding spouses. Under the terms of the settlement, Kevin is to retain sole legal and physical custody of Sean Preston, 2, and 1-year-old Jayden James, while Britney will continue to have visitation rights which may increase over time.

The agreement was presented to the court on July 18, at which point commissioner Gordon had been expected to finalize the paperwork, finally putting an end to months of back-and-forth feuding.

An emergency hearing had been scheduled for 2pm PST on Friday, at which time a a spokesperson for the court told OK!, “There apparently is a settlement… We expect it delivered by one of the lawyers this afternoon.”

After Kaplan finally arrived around 3pm to deliver the final settlement agreement, he told reporters that his client is relieved at reaching this endpoint. “It’s a great relief [for Kevin] to have this two-year ordeal behind him,” he explained.

The few details of the settlement that have been released include the fee to be paid to Kaplan ($250,000) and the amount of child support to be paid to Kevin by Brit — $20,000/month, up $5,000 from the existing agreement.

When asked why Kevin, who could easily have asked for and received a larger sum of money, agreed to only a $5,000 increase, Kaplan said, “He’s trying to contribute as much [of his own money] as he can,” adding that for Kevin, “it’s never been about the money.”

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Britney Spears will have another chance to storm the MTV stage, after receiving a nomination for this year’s Video Music Awards.

The star has been nominated by network bosses in the category of Best Female Video for her hit single Piece of Me, competing alongside a list of music’s top female rockers. The full list of nominees in the category is scheduled for release on Friday.

The Toxic hitmaker has rocked audiences with a series of shocking performances at the outlandish awards show.

Five years ago, she wowed viewers when she locked lips with Madonna during a duet. And she made a disastrous comeback attempt at last year’s show, baring her belly and stumbling across the stage.

The MTV VMAs show is set to air in the U.S. on September 7th.

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WENN