July 28, 2008

Britney Spears' Custody Agreement Finalized

By Katie Byrne, with additional reporting by Gil Kaufman (MTV.com)

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's custody settlement is final, according to TMZ.com.

Under the settlement, which was filed Friday (July 25) in LA County Superior Court, Spears must pay $250,000 in Federline's legal fees. Also, Federline will get $20,000 a month for child support, up from his previous $15,000. The agreement doesn't mention visitation, TMZ reported.

On July 17, Spears agreed to give Federline sole legal and physical custody of their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, while she would retain visitation rights. Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told E! News last week that the agreement had been signed by all parties but still needed to be approved by the court.

TMZ says Spears will have three days and one night a week with her sons, with more visitation possible in the future. The singer has only been allowed monitored visits with her children since late February, following her multiple hospitalizations. She was recently granted the right to have one overnight visit a week as well.

According to E!, the Federline camp credited Spears' father, Jamie - who was appointed the co-conservator of his daughter's estate in February - for helping to get the troubled 26-year-old singer back on the right path. The conservatorship is up for review at the end of July, at which point a court commissioner will decide whether to make the arrangement permanent. Kaplan said that there is language in the custody agreement that anticipates a possible end to the conservatorship, but he couldn't discuss what those terms are. "Nobody can predict what the future will bring, but ... to the extent possible, I think we have really anticipated how to proceed," he said.