New court docs state Britney Spears' conservatorship is reportedly "voluntary." What does this mean for the #FreeBritney movement?

[Jordan Miller]

Britney Spears' legal advocate, Samuel Ingham, filed docs requesting her dad be removed as conservator over her estate and replaced by a trust company. Read more about that here.

There's also a new report out discussing her net worth not including the revenue she's generated through her music.

One thing I found interesting in these new court docs, that has been touched on in several other topics here on Exhale (but doesn't yet have its own designated topic), is the notion that the conservatorship is "voluntary."

Newly filed docs state:

Quote

 "This is a voluntary conservatorship. Conservatee wishes to exercise her right to nominate a conservator of the estate," the document begins.

The docs add that she does NOT "have a developmental disability" that would stop her from making these decisions.

I believe that implies Britney is OK with the conservatorship in general, but the terms of it - namely her father being in control - is something she's adamant about changing.

Interestingly, if she can make sound decisions about her life like this, is the conservatorship necessary at all? Why not build a different infrastructure that don't impede on her own rights?

The million dollar question: even if she is seemingly OK with the conservatorships, does it mean they should still remain anyway?

I'd like to point out that even if Britney is content with the conservatorships, this does not necessarily diminish the importance of the #FreeBritney movement. It's my belief that without this movement, these major changes to better her life, like petitioning to replace her father with the Bessemer Trust Company, would never have happened - things would've likely remained the same. There has been notable progress. 

It does put the movement between a rock and a hard place, though. If she is indeed OK with the conservatorships, then the #FreeBritney movement would need to pivot. Problem is, there's been such an abuse in trust that fans are likely not to believe this is "voluntary" despite the docs stating it is simply because we haven't heard from Britney directly. She will likely never publicly address this, therefore the speculation will continue.

Exhale, I know this is a lot to digest, but what are your thoughts? Pretend this report is undeniably 100% true: that Britney is OK with the conservatorships as long as her dad isn't in the picture. Where do we go from here? 

 

Related:

 

 

[YannFrance]

Lol sure Jan.

[icybaby]

She might be ok with financial cship. But even Brian said she wanted out for a long time 

[pieceofbritUK]

I wonder if that statement would bring more legal repercussions than we know.

I mean, if she says she is ok with it and does not have any issues that stop her from making life changing decisions, is it okay that she is in a conservatorship? How are the legalities around that? Like, could I just agree to a conservatorship if I apparently don't need one? Is that even legal? To use all those resources for something I don't really need, could I be held accountable?

[Urbanney]

Why the hell would anyone want to voluntarily have the rights of a child in the eyes of the law?

I don't trust her conservators to believe them if they say it's voluntary. Even if they got her to say it's voluntary, it's the same inappropriate power dynamic that doesn't make it believable. I mean it's the equivalent of when in an abusive romantic relationship, the abuser gets the abused to say or even believe that they are happy in their relationship, even if they're not. You don't trust that the abused is happy when you know they are at an unfair power dynamic and you know they are being abused. 

Let me reiterate this: Conservatorships are meant for someone in a vegetable state. Britney has been released several albums, music videos, perfumes, and gone on multiple world tours and promo tours for over a decade since the cship started. It's documented in multiple ways that Britney didn't want the conservatorship when it started and hasn't wanted it for years. Even just as recent as this year, her brother said she didn't want it. 

[BONO Productions]

The misleading article titles in Daily Mail, The Blast, and other platforms might spread the wrong information

that Britney is okay with the c-ship since it's stated in the documents that it's voluntary.

This might give a bad light to the #FreeBritney movement and the general public would think that this movement is "just a conspiracy theory after all".

I hope I'm wrong tho. I'm just worried with the article titles.

Is this just messy/bad  journalism or Team CON is really trying to turn things around?

[Haha-Hehe-Haha-Ho]

Even if she was in the cship voluntarily, I don't think the courts put any weight on the conservatee's feelings on the matter. It doesn't matter if a senile old lady gets upset that she can no longer send her social security check to her nigerian boyfriend. 

If the fantasy they're selling is that Brit is cool with it AND that Jamie & Co. is just going along with it per her request (a ridiculous notion) , then that's a clear abuse of the intent of the law and the arrangement should be dissolved immediately. Conservatorships are not meant to be used as optional  "hybrid business models", they're supposed to be a last resort for people who are in dire need. 

Britney does need a team of financial experts and asset/wealth managers on retainer, but she should be able to overrule their advice, fire them at will if she wants to, and see to her personal matters as she sees fit. 

[Towelney]

I won’t believe anything until Britney herself says something 

[Hooked-On-Knee]

This might explain why there hasn't been a petition to terminate the conservatorship.

Like ever since she's in it there's been all these hints she wants to end it (the phone call being the BIG ONE, what Brian said, etc) but it's always been baby steps and small things and I've always wondered "well why doesn't she just petition to end it?

I truly wonder if Britney thinks she has dementia....

[ShatteredGlass98]

Not sure how to answer that tbh  

Obviously this is 100% not the case but IMAGINE if it one day came out that she wanted a c-ship all along because she couldn't be bothered with responsibilities, would we still stan? 

[LikeShatteredGlass]

Even if it is voluntary now, it certainly hasn't been that way the entire time. We heard right from Britney on FTR that she wanted out and felt like a prisoner. Maybe she's become accustomed to some aspects of it, like having people to oversee her finances or assist with career moves. But I can't imagine she's OK with the way her personal life is controlled. Or, at the very least, we know she isn't OK with the idea that her father oversees her personal and financial decisions. 

On the other hand, maybe Sam is adding in this wording to ensure he's able to get Britney out of the conservatorship when/if she wants out. The "voluntary" wording reminds me of the other document we saw that stated by requesting certain changes Britney was in no way revoking her right to one day end or dispute the conservatorship. I'd lean more toward this angle. A lawyer trying to protect a client in the event that the client wants to make future changes or trash the whole concept. 

[MonaLisa613]

Since the change is her request, wouldn’t that make it voluntary?? I think the most important statement of all that fans should focus on, is the that she wants to make these changes without waiving her right to terminate the whole thing, that indicates she would want to end it at some point.

[Mr. Cavill]

1 minute ago, ShatteredGlass98 said:

Not sure how to answer that tbh  

Obviously this is 100% not the case but IMAGINE if it one day came out that she wanted a c-ship all along because she couldn't be bothered with responsibilities, would we still stan? 

Mte

[nanabs]

I don't know anything about laws and I'm not an American either. But to me this sounds like a strategy, I was reading some documents made available by the main freebritney accounts. As if Samuel said. "It's voluntary and she wants to be. And now she doesn't want to be anymore. Let's finish!" In baby steps.

I also think that at some point she accepted this situation, as an agreement: "if you accept, we will finish after tour X and return your children", setting up a voluntary cship.

[jordeezy tm]

[bliss]

I don't believe this at all tbh, why would a 38 year old mother be ok with being in a conservatorship?

[Barajas]

My impression is that Britney doesn´t even know what her team got her into ,
and she just accepted cause they told her it was the best. 
We probably need a lawyer to explain these legal terms,
apparently "voluntarly" means she loses her rights to make any personal decisions 

Below an article written by a Judge about the differences of vulunatry vs involuntary cships: 

" The most significant difference between voluntary conservatorships and powers of attorney and appointments of healthcare representatives is that the appointment of a conservator requires court intervention.  Any capable adult may appoint a healthcare representative or attorney in fact; it’s not necessary to involve the probate court for those appointments.  Only a probate court may appoint a conservator. 

Another difference is that a conserved person loses rights to make decisions for themselves.  For example, if the conservator has authority over financial decisions, the conserved person loses the legal right to make those decisions.  However, the conservator is required to take the conserved person’s wishes and preferences into account when making decisions; the conservator is also required to involve the conserved person in the decision making process as much as possible."

Source : https://www.southbury-ct.org/content/353/9149.aspx

 

[LikeShatteredGlass]

5 minutes ago, nanabs said:

I don't know anything about laws and I'm not an American either. But to me this sounds like a strategy, I was reading some documents made available by the main freebritney accounts. As if Samuel said. "It's voluntary and she wants to be. And now she doesn't want to be anymore. Let's finish!" In baby steps.

I also think that at some point she accepted this situation, as an agreement: "if you accept, we will finish after tour X and return your children", setting up a voluntary cship.

Yes. I would lean more toward this. Sounds like her lawyer is just adding in details about it being voluntary, no disability, Britney making her own choices, having the right to end it, etc., so that things can't get weird as time goes on. As in, if the current situation they are proposing turns out to be undesirable, they have documentation that backs up Britney's choice to make additional changes. 

[justin4britney]

Of course it’s voluntary when they threaten visitation and custody against her. 

[Rojo]

@Jordan Miller check your MP please