Bobby Brown's Paternal Payout

Bobby Brown's newest prerogative: to prove to a Massachusetts judge that the trouble-magnet R&B singer can pay for his kids' education.

Brown has until Friday to show proof he has the cash flow to establish an educational trust fund for the two kids he had with ex-girlfriend Kim Ward. If Brown, who has defied previous court-orders regarding the children, doesn't make good on the money promise by Friday, he risks going to jail yet again.

That wouldn't be the first time a deadbeat-dad rap has landed Brown in the slammer. Mr. Whitney Houston spent a day behind bars last June after falling three months behind in child-support payments to Ward totaling $63,500. He was released after coughing up the funds, only to rack up more missed payments in March. He recently caught up on the unpaid child support, but that didn't include the college education-related expenses he had promised years go.

At a hearing Wednesday in the town of Dedham, the 36-year-old Brown blamed his own hectic work schedule and slacking accountants as the reason for not setting aside the $176,000 fund for his two oldest children--a boy and a girl who are now teenagers.

"I've been shooting a television show and recording an album. So, it's hard," the crooner told the court. "For me, it's easy to not know that a payment is not paid because other people are supposed to pay them."

Brown said missed payments to the fund scheduled to be made last October and December were due to an unspecified business arrangement unexpectedly falling through. That didn't go over too well with the judge.

"You can't wait three months. It's got to be paid each and every month. Whatever you plan, I hope this contract works, and I hope that gets you on track so you are able to consistently pay your child support in a timely manner," Probate Court Judge Paula Carey told Brown.

The singer's lawyers reached a deal with the judge whereby the money earned from a new contract will be put into a trust every 60 days and on time.

Brown, who grew up in nearby Roxbury but now lives in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta with Houston and their daughter, is hoping to resolve his liquidity problems with Being Bobby Brown, a new eight-episode reality series scheduled to premiere June 30 on Bravo.

The show follows the erstwhile King of New Jack Swing as he attempts to get his personal life in order and resurrect what was once a red-hot music career. His superstar wife and their child, Bobbi Kristina, will appear, as well some of his children from previous relationships. (Brown has six kids outside of his marriage to Houston.)

Brown initially found fame as a member of '80s boy band New Edition before launching a superstar solo career on the strength of hits like "My Prerogative" and "Don't Be Cruel." In recent years, however, he has been derailed by substance abuse and run-ins with the law, including a well publicized domestic spat with Houston that had him spending more time in jail cells than in the recording studio.

Now that he's on the comeback trail, Brown might consider looking up his old pals.

New Edition member Ricky Bell told AP Radio that the group would love to have Bobby back for a reunion, especially given his renewed attempt at rehabilitating himself.

"I mean, this is for real; this is no politically correct answer or anything like that. The door is open for him," he said, adding that when Brown was sober, "we [would] see that he's a sharp individual, a talented individual, a family man."

Brown, who is putting the wraps on a new solo album, hasn't said whether he'll accept the invitation. The last time he reunited with New Edition was for a 1996 tour.