Sonny Days Ahead for Britney

Spears' granted expanded custody with two sons

By Gina Serpe May 06, 2008 9:08 PMTags
Britney SpearsFame Pictures, Inc.

Time is on Britney Spears' side. More specifically, time for visitation.

Following a morning court session attended by both Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline, the couple came to a decision to modify the terms of their custody agreement for sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.

Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan announced that Spears will be allowed to spend more time with the boys during her visits. However, Federline retains primary physical custody and no sleepovers will be allowed, at least for now. (View the minute order.)

"We are so pleased with Britney's progress and we are very appreciative of the court's recognition of this progress," parents Jamie and Lynne Spears, both of whom were in court supporting their daughter, said in a statement read by court spokesman Allan Parachini.

Flanked by her parents, Spears left without addressing reporters.

Speaking for Federline, publicist Elliot Mintz told E! News the would-be rapper was "extremely pleased with how things went today."

Kaplan concurred, calling the modified order a "cautious step going forward...a step in the right direction."

"We are pleased with the progress that seems to be occurring," he said, "and cautiously are going down that track."

The exact amount of addition time Spears can spend with her children was not disclosed. Kaplan said the time expansion will be "phased in, in the near future" and credits the conservatorship of Spears' estate, led by father Jamie, with enabling the new agreement.

"We all know over the last few months what was a seemingly daily situation in extreme flux has been stabilized," Kaplan said outside the courtroom. "We see there are not daily events occurring that made it very difficult to have any kind of grounding or believing that an environment that was best for the children was consistent across both homes."

The conservatorship, he said, "takes a lot of uncertainty out of play."

The agreement was made after both sides took about an hour break to hash out a compromise. Spears and Federline, along with their respective legal teams, met in a private room in the Los Angeles Superior Court after a brief appearance in front of Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon.

A subsequent hearing has been set for July 15, which will focus on the progress of the new arrangement.

(Originally published May 6, 2008 at 1:05 p.m. PT.)