Tiffany Court Hearings Scheduled for Today

Tiffany, the 16-year-old pop star who has been struggling with her mother for three months over control of her career, gets her day in court today--even though she won’t be there.

An 11 a.m. hearing has been scheduled in Department 11 of the Los Angeles Superior Court Building on Hill Street for Tiffany’s request to name her aunt, Julie Abbas, as her permanent guardian. Her aunt was named temporary guardian two months ago.

The guardianship request is in conjunction with a request the singer made in March to emancipate herself from her mother, Jane C. Williams. A court-appointed mediator has been holding regular meetings with attorneys for mother and daughter since.

The judge in the emancipation action, Richard Ibanez, ordered the case file sealed and closed all proceedings to the public. Ibanez will be holding a closed-door status hearing today at 10 a.m. in Department 238 in the Criminal Courts Building on Temple Street.

Last month Judge Kenneth Black, extended Ibanez’s order by imposing a gag order on attorneys representing Tiffany and her mother. Attorney Neal Goldstein, who represents Williams, has talked openly about the case.

Judge Richard Hubbell, who is hearing the guardianship request, has not closed proceedings in his courtroom. After a brief hearing in Hubbell’s courtroom Friday, Ivy Berg Kagan, one of Tiffany’s attorneys, chastised Goldstein and Williams for speaking to the press “because it’s so detrimental to (Tiffany’s) career.”

Williams told The Times that she plans to be on hand for both of today’s hearings but that Tiffany will not. The singer left for a concert tour in Europe on Friday with her manager, George Tobin.

Tiffany’s first MCA record album, “Tiffany,” has sold more than 4 million copies and has earned more than $4 million in royalties. Though her contract with Tobin called for a 50-50 split of royalties, much of Tobin’s expenses are to be met out of her half of the earnings, according to the contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Times.

In court filings, her mother has maintained that her daughter, whose full name is Tiffany Renee Darwish, has seen virtually none of that money, however, and that her career and finances remain under the control of Tobin. Last month, Judge Black removed Williams as trustee of her daughter’s trust fund and named a bank and accounting firm as trustees. Black also boosted the percentage of Tiffany’s record royalty earnings to be held in trust from 30% to 50%.