Settlement averts Spears custody trial

Published on Saturday 19 July 2008 19:36

BRITNEY Spears and Kevin Federline have reached an agreement that grants the pop singer more overnight visits with her children and averts a custody trial scheduled for next month.

The agreement was announced following a closed-door session between lawyers for both sides and a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner on Friday. Neither Spears nor Federline appeared.

Spears will now have three visits a week from Sean Preston and Jayden James, with at least two overnight visits, her lawyer, Laura Wasser, said. Spears was granted one overnight visitation per week in late June.

A trial on several issues was scheduled for late August, although Wasser said Spears was not seeking a change in her custodial rights as she is under the conservatorship of her father. James Spears currently controls the 26-year-old singer's personal and financial affairs.

Wasser said the agreement did not give Federline permanent custody of the children, calling the deal "a victory for the entire family" because it avoids a custody trial set for August.

Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said Federline, a rapper and dancer, was "extremely happy" the custody battle was over, but added: "I'm not going to comment on an agreement that has not yet been made an order of the court."

Spears already had overnight visitation rights, and the Grammy-winning singer could win more visits over time.

She lost custody last year and was unable to see her sons over a two-month period earlier this year after several high-profile incidents of erratic behaviour.

The couple were married in 2004 and finalised their divorce last July. They have been wrangling over custody issues for several months since then.

The lawyers still have to file a formal settlement agreement with the court.

A hearing on Spears' conservatorship has been scheduled for July 31.

Wasser said the agreement was another sign of Spears' continued recovery. She said the singer had been motivated to improve her life for her children's sake, and to re-establish her career.

"The difference from the beginning of this year to now is astonishing," Wasser said.

Spears, 26, is now working on a new album after spending much of the past 18 months in the headlines over the custody battle, rehab treatment and erratic behaviour such as shaving her head and attacking a photographer's car with an umbrella.

She has also been mentioned as a possible Emmy award nominee for two guest appearances on the US television series How I Met Your Mother.

Her manager, Larry Rudolph, and label, Jive Records, said in a statement that Spears, one of the world's most successful pop stars of the early 2000s, "is spending her summer in the recording studio, working on a brand new album".

"She's working with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters and we're very excited about what she's accomplished so far. No album release date has been confirmed yet," the statement said.

Spear's last album, Blackout, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 last November, but quickly slid down the chart.

Earlier this month, Britney's younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears – a television actress – showed off her newborn daughter and told of her "perfect" delivery.

Spears and fianc Casey Aldridge welcomed Maddie Briann at a hospital in McComb, Mississippi, on June 19.

Jamie Lynn posed with her on the cover of the latest edition of OK! magazine in the US. The move was expected, given the fact that she announced her pregnancy through an article in the magazine and was reportedly to receive a large payday for exclusive pictures.