Britney Spears will get more time with her sons during visitation, a court ruled Tuesday.

“We are so pleased with Britney’s progress, and we are appreciative of the court’s recognition of this progress,” Spears’s parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears, said in statement after a hearing attended by the pop star and her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

It was not clear how much more time Spears was granted. Federline’s attorney characterized the court order as “an expansion of time.”

“It is a cautious step, but a step forward nonetheless,” said lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan. “We are seeing signs of [Britney's] progress, and consistency over time is something welcome by Kevin … The children are doing great.”

Spears, with lawyer Blair Berk and both of her parents, smiled as she left the courtroom and headed for her SUV, but did not talk to the press. Earlier, during a break in the hearing, the singer was seen looking teary-eyed. However, during a second break, she smiled and held her mother’s hand as she went back into the courtroom.

During that break, Spears and her lawyers, as well as Federline and his attorney, convened to adjacent rooms outside of the courtroom.

The hearing began around 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday. Spears, wearing a knee-length brown and white dress, was accompanied by her lawyer and both of her parents. Federline, wearing a tan pinstriped suit, was with Kaplan.

Spears has spent the last several months keeping a relatively low profile – and staying out of trouble. The singer was hospitalized at UCLA Medical Center’s psych ward in January. Her custody arrangement has consisted of only monitored visitation rights with her sons, Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1, several times a week – but no overnight privileges. Her father and a lawyer maintain legal control of her affairs until a July 31 hearing.

Since her father took control of Spears’s life, the singer has been spending more time with her family – including her previously estranged mom. (She recently attended a baby shower for her sister, Jamie Lynn, in Kentwood, La.)

Spears has also been hard at work filming her second appearance on How I Met Your Mother, which will air May 12.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears is on her way to court with one of her lawyers. She is relaxed and ready to face the judge eye to eye and explain why she deserves more face time with her kids.

Source: TMZ

Britney Spears is spending more quality time with her sons.

Preston, 2, and Jayden, 17 months, spent more time at their mother’s house on Wednesday morning – the third visit Spears has had with her children since lawyers for the singer and her ex-husband Kevin Federline reached a visitation agreement on Feb. 22.

Spears’s recent visits with her boys have been full of hugs and affection, PEOPLE reports in its new issue (on newsstands Friday). “Kids this age are amazingly resilient, and the very close bond that Britney has with her children is apparent,” a source tells PEOPLE.

On Saturday, Spears reunited with her sons for the first time since she was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Jan. 3. She also had another visit with them Monday.

According to the source, Spears’s father, Jamie, and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Sadja have been monitoring the visits between the boys and Spears, who has had two stints in the hospital this year. Sadja began treating the singer during her most recent hospitalization at the UCLA Medical Center psych ward.

Source: People Magazine

While the rest of Hollywood was getting over their Oscar hangover on Monday morning, Britney Spears was enjoying the second visit from her two young sons in three days.

“It went very well,” a source close to the pop star tells OK! about this second visit, which lasted from 9am to noon PT on Monday. “The boys are really happy to see their mom.”

Even those who you’d expect to be most skeptical about the visits, like Mark Vincent Kaplan, lawyer for Brit’s ex-husband Kevin Federline, seemed upbeat on Monday. “These visitations with the boys will help to normalize the family environment,” Kaplan told OK!. “Kevin has always been rooting for Britney to regain visitation… and if these visits go well, they will ramp up over time.”

In fact, says the Britney insider, the rumor around the Spears house is that Sean Preston, 2, and one-year-old Jayden James could soon be visiting up to three times a week — so long as the singer continues to follow the rules and as long as certain people are present for the visits.

Sources confirm to OK! that the people required to be on hand for the boys’ visits to their mom include her father Jamie Spears, one of K-Fed’s bodyguards, Britney’s psychologist, the court-appointed monitor and a lawyer representing the conservatorship.

“It’s a lot, for sure,” one legal source explains to OK!. “But if she really wants those kids back, she won’t complain about all the people looking over her shoulder.”

And speaking of the ongoing custody battle for the two boys, Kaplan confirms to OK! that the original April 9 start date for the actual hearing will likely not go down as scheduled for several reasons, including the fact that the court needs to finish its custody evaluation of both parents. This evaluation will consider, among other factors, how each parent interacts with the children, each parent’s personal behavior and lifestyle, and how the exes behave together in front of the children.

A more likely start date for the case, says Kaplan, who also requested the Britney undergo a psychiatric evaluation, would be in the early summer.

Source: OK! Magazine

Britney Spears was reunited with her sons for three hours on Saturday.

After lawyers for Spears and Kevin Federline reached a visitation agreement Friday, the pop star saw her children Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1, for the first time since Jan. 3.

The boys left Federline’s Tarzana house Saturday morning – put in their car seats by their father, according to photographers – and were driven by Federline’s bodyguard to Spears’s Studio City home.

A source involved in the case says, “The real hero was [Spears's father] Jamie. He has taken charge, and she has visitation again.”

Sources confirm to PEOPLE that Jamie and Britney’s psychiatrist were present for the visit.

After a three-hour stay, Spears’s sons left again in the back of Federline’s grey Dodge truck driven by his bodyguard.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears will be allowed to visit her children “soon, very soon,” after lawyers hammered out a structured visitation arrangement, Kevin Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan tells PEOPLE.

Kaplan confirmed Friday that he and his partner Jim Simon spent two days working with Spears’s legal team. Under the terms of the agreement, details of which Kaplan would not disclose, Jayden, 1, and Preston, 2, will once again enjoy “participation of their mother in their lives,” Kaplan says.

“We’re pleased that … the process of reinstating the children’s mother as a participant in their lives can commence,” said Kaplan.

Spears, 26, has not seen her boys since her Jan. 3 custody stand-off with police, leading to her first forced hospitalization in a psych ward.

Source: People Magazine

What will it take for Britney Spears to regain visitation rights with her two sons? That remains to be seen. But the pop star’s tentative reconciliation with her father, Jamie, is a step in the right direction, says Kevin Federline’s lawyer.

In fact, attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan was full of praise for the elder Spears, who has emerged as a controversial force in Britney’s life recently – and who was front-and-center at Tuesday’s family court hearing.

“Jamie Spears’s presence is an extreme positive,” Kaplan told PEOPLE, adding that the patriarch’s continued presence could make it possible “to develop a visitation plan that enables these children to have a mother in their lives.”

While Britney’s visitation with children Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1, was discussed at Tuesday’s hearing, there was no official legal progress on the matter. (Spears has not seen her sons since her Jan. 3 standoff with police.) Still, Kaplan said, “[Jamie] brings that day closer. Absolutely.”

Jamie’s role as temporary co-conservator – overseeing Britney’s wellbeing and estimated $100-million fortune – has attracted its share of criticism. His own daughter is apparently seeking legal remedies to regain control and, in a recent interview with PEOPLE, attorney Jon Eardley claimed that Jamie’s conservatorship was a “violation of [the singer's] civil rights.”

Kaplan, however, sees Jamie’s control as a “huge step.” “He’s building from the ground up,” the attorney explained. “[He's] stabilizing the situation, removing people that may not have had [Britney's] best interests at heart.”

Does that mean Britney could see her kids again in the near future?

“We all want this as soon as possible,” said Kaplan. “That’s Kevin’s desire – to have his kids visiting their mother. That’s everyone’s goal in this case.”

Source: People Magazine

Once again, Britney Spears has a new lawyer: High-profile attorney Stacy D. Phillips became the latest to sign on for the custody case.

Phillips, who was approved by a court commissioner Tuesday, replaced Sorrell Trope, who quit after complaining of problems communicating with the troubled pop star.

A Columbia University law grad, Phillips represented Bobby Brown in his divorce from Whitney Houston, and Tori Spellling’s ex, Charlie Shahnaian. She’s also a frequent legal analyst in magazines and on television.

She also authored Divorce: It’s All About Control, once explaining that, “I’ve yet to handle a divorce where control was not an issue or at issue.”

Phillips becomes Spears’s fourth lawyer in her ongoing battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline. Her first attorney, Laura Wasser, resigned from her case last September shortly after Spears’s divorce from Federline was finalized.

Spears then hired the firm Freid & Goldsman, but their relationship ended within days, before retaining Trope, who sought to leave the case, come back, then filed papers again to depart, this time for good.

Source: People Magazine

Attorneys for Britney Spears return to court Tuesday morning for the first scheduled custody hearing since the pop star’s most recent hospitalization.

Insiders doubt there will be any major change from the current custody arrangement, which bars Spears from visiting her sons Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1. (She is, however, allowed telephone contact.) Still, it’s possible the 26-year-old singer – who hasn’t seen the boys since her Jan. 3 standoff with police – could be awarded some temporary physical access.

Tuesday’s court session – which was scheduled after Spears’s stay in the psych ward at the UCLA Medical Center – sets the stage for more major hearings in the coming weeks, as Spears and Kevin Federline seek to reevaluate their custody agreement. (Her former husband and backup dancer is seeking full physical custody.)

The judge may also hear arguments from Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, who has asked for a full psychological evaluation of the troubled pop star.

But the biggest news out of today’s hearing could be a change in representation for Spears. Los Angeles attorney Sorrell Trope has asked – for the second time – to be released from the case. (The law firm of Trope & Trope filed similar papers in January, but later withdrew the request.

Possible replacements include Laura Wasser, who resigned from Spears’s case in September. At the time, she denied “dumping” Spears, telling PEOPLE the singer’s legal team simply needed “fresh blood.” But Wasser appears to be back in the picture, after reportedly visiting Spears during her UCLA stay.

Source: People Magazine

With Britney Spears hospitalized under a 14-day hold, attorneys arrived in court Monday for another custody hearing, but the session was postponed until later this month.

Lawyers for Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline were at the downtown courthouse with two new players: an attorney for Spears’s father Jamie, who as temporary co-conservator has been granted widespread powers over her life, and the other co-conservator, lawyer Andrew Wallet.

Spears, 26, currently has no visitation rights of their sons, Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1, and has been fighting Federline, 29, in family court for more contact with the children.

The hearing had been scheduled to discuss the issue of Spears getting monitored visitation in a “therapeutic setting.” The hearing was reset for Feb. 19.

Another hearing is set for later Monday before a different judge over the question of control of Spears’s affairs while she is treated at UCLA Medical Center’s psychiatric ward in her second hospitalization this year.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears is allowed to speak with her children on the telephone but still may not see them, according to court documents released Monday.

“(Spears) is to have telephonic contact with the minor children,” Commissioner Scott Gordon ruled at last week’s hearing. “All prior orders remain in full force and effect.”

The pop singer, 26, has been forbidden to see her sons Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1, for more than three weeks, following her Jan. 3 custody standoff, which ended with her brief hospitalization.

Despite two attempts by her lawyers to regain her visitation rights, Spears cannot see her kids indefinitely, the judge has ruled.

Earlier Monday, Barbara Walters reported that Spears is seeking help for mental issues, according to confidante Sam Lutfi.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears’s deposition is “slow going,” and could drag on for multiple sessions, concedes Kevin Federline’s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan.

Asked if the deposition could last five or more sessions, Kaplan replied, “It wouldn’t surprise me.” The attorney, who happened to run into a PEOPLE reporter Wednesday, added, “There are many areas that I have not yet explored.”

Spears, 26, has been cross examined for a total of one hour over two sessions. (She has been late to both.)

As of the second session Monday, Kaplan said he’d only completed “two percent” of his questioning, which Spears must answer while under oath. Spears’s first session lasted a mere 14 minutes, and occurred just hours before her infamous Jan. 3 meltdown.

The lawyer, who could not reveal specifics, is likely grilling the pop star about past drug and alcohol use, her failure to follow court orders, and anything else that pertains to her parenting. (The questioning lays the groundwork for the Spears-Federline custody trial scheduled for April.)

On Thursday, Kaplan also began deposing Spears confidante Sam Lutfi, who had evaded the sit-down for months.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears was not granted visitation rights with her two sons after the singer arrived for a custody hearing Wednesday – then left the courthouse before it began.

“The hearing is over. The previous custody orders – in which Ms Spears has no visitation – have not changed,” court rep Allan Parachini said Wednesday.

“Both sides were heard in court. Notice was taken of Ms. Spears’s absence by the court,” he continued. “She arrived at the courthouse, but (shortly afterward) indicated that she wanted to leave. [Kevin Federline] did answer some questions posed by (Commissioner Scott Gordon).”

Attorney’s for Spears had been seeking visitation rights for the singer.

The emergency hearing, which the pop singer had requested, was a replay of last week’s hearing, when Spears showed up at the courthouse only to depart, missing a session in which she lost all access to sons Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1.

Neither Spears nor her ex-husband Kevin Federline is required to attend the hearings.

Spears and Federline arrived separately at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse Wednesday morning. Federline was seen entering the courtroom, but a court spokesman said Spears had left in a silver Mercedes.

Spears, 26, lost visitation rights indefinitely following her brief hospitalization earlier this month after a four-hour custody standoff involving police.

On Monday, she was questioned for 45 minutes by Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan in what the lawyer called a “gut-wrenching” deposition.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears’s deposition at the hands of Kevin Federline lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan has been an emotionally difficult experience that has only just begun, Kaplan tells PEOPLE.

“We are going over things that are very, very gut-wrenching,” Kaplan said Monday night, speaking outside of Katsuya restaurant in Brentwood. He declined to discuss specifics of the questioning, but said, “Just to revisit them even in your own mind would not be pleasurable.”

“It’s not something anyone would enjoy,” he says.

Spear has a spotty record with past deposition dates in the custody case, missing numerous appointments and sitting for only 14 minutes on Jan. 3. Kaplan is expected to be grilling Spears, 26, about past drug and alcohol use, her failure to comply with court orders and any other subject relating to her fitness as a parent.

After a meltdown and brief forced hospitalization, Spears lost visitation rights with sons Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1. Ex-husband Federline, 29, has sole legal and physical custody.

Even Monday’s session was in doubt.

“She was about 50 minutes late,” he says. “After an hour I would have been over it. I was prepared to terminate had she not showed at that time.”

Spears was spotted biting her fingernails when arriving to Kaplan’s Century City Plaza office. After spending more than two hours there, Spears appeared tense and lit up a cigarette behind the wheel of her Mercedes before driving through Beverly Hills listening to Madonna on the stereo.

The deposition on a national holiday Monday was booked after the shortened deposition on Jan. 3. The holiday booking was done to accommodate busy lawyer schedules, says Kaplan, and it “did dovetail into allowing this to be a low-profile appearance.”

Kaplan says there will further depositions in the unspecified future, claiming that he has only worked through “2 percent” of his questions.

“There is a lot of work to be done,” he says. But he adds he was heartened by the idea of even having the meeting in the first place.

“She came for her deposition, that’s great,” says Kaplan. “Showing up is form over substance.”

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears spent more than two hours at the Los Angeles office of Kevin Federline’s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, Monday for an ongoing deposition in the ex-couple’s custody battle.

At 10:40 a.m., Spears, 26, wearing a dark blue top and jeans, drove up to the office in her white Mercedes-Benz SL65 with friend Sam Lutfi. Both had serious expressions on their faces. The singer was spotted leaving at 1:20 p.m.

The singer has missed numerous appointments for the court-ordered cross examination. She was expected to be grilled about her past drug and alcohol use, her apparent failure to follow court orders and other matters pertaining to her parenting skills.

Federline’s attorney will use evidence gathered in depositions to try to convince a court that his client should retain primary physical custody of the ex-couple’s children. A custody trial is set for April.

“Kevin wants nothing more than to be able to parent his children with participation by their mother,” Kaplan previously told PEOPLE. “But the best interest of the children require that they be in the most sound, safe, nurturing and consistent environment. That is paramount.”

On Jan. 3, Spears was deposed for only 14 minutes, after arriving one-and-a-half hours late. That night and into the next morning Spears had a four-hour standoff with police, ending with her brief hospitalization.

Last Monday, the singer lost all visitation rights to sons Preston, 2, and Jayden 1, indefinitely after she showed up for a hearing, then left without entering the courthouse.

Source: People Magazine

Britney Spears’ cousin and former assistant Alli Sims says the troubled pop star is “not crazy,” but she’s worried about the singer’s new beau, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib.

Despite paid offers to dish on Spears, Sims has stayed out of the fray. She has never commented on the singer before and wants it known she was not paid to talk. She breaks her silence to Us Weekly in its latest issue, on newsstands now.

“I do not think Adnan is a good person,” Sims, 26, tells Us. “I think he only has bad intentions. He has given me a weird feeling and creeped me out. I wish he would just go away.”

“When you go through your whole life just listening to what everybody tells you to do, you get to the point where you’re not used to having to pick out yourself what is really important,” she tells Us of her relationship with Spears and her adviser Sam Lutfi.

Sims is adamant that Spears was not on drugs before she was hospitalized on Jan. 3. “I do not think that is the issue at all,” she tells Us. “I was with her for eight months pretty much every day and never witnessed anything like that – and I lived there.” (Sims was not with Spears during her meltdown, despite reports otherwise.)

The aspiring singer says Spears “adores” her two children and is simply upset and sad by her custody situation. “I wish people would give her a break and lay off her,” she adds.

Check out the latest issue of Us Weekly for more on Sims’ life with Spears and what she thinks of Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy.

Source: Us Weekly

The Commissioner has just ruled that Britney will not have visitation restored, at least until the next hearing on February 19.

The order came after the testimony of two LAPD cops who responded to the craziness a week ago Thursday, Lisa Hacker, the court monitor, Loni Jones, a bodyguard, and Pamela Strong, the court monitor who was present during the drama.

Source: TMZ

In a chaotic scene, Britney Spears arrived at her child-custody hearing Monday – but left the courthouse after paparazzi surrounded her.

“I’m scared. I want to get in the car. I’m going in the car,” she said after stepping out of the car as photographers crowded around her.

Spears, 26, then got back in the car. Police tried to coax her out, but she slammed her back against the seat and shouted, “No!”

Spears’s car eventually drove off, and she didn’t make it to the afternoon session of the hearing.

The troubled pop singer stayed home during the hearing’s morning session, which ex-husband Kevin Federline, 29, attended.

Spears was not legally required to go, and she originally had “no plans” to do so, according to a source. But another source said her legal team “strongly advised” her to attend, and by the lunch break her lawyer said he was “hopeful” she’d show in the afternoon.

About 1:15 p.m., her car arrived at the courthouse. In a confusing sequence of events, the car at one point pulled into the garage, and at another point Spears got out for a few seconds, when she said she was scared and got back in. The car also was seen driving around the block, and at least once it pulled up to the curb, was met by photographers, and drove away.

The court hearing is focusing on Spears’s four-hour Jan. 3 standoff with police, firefighters and paramedics at her Studio City home. Events that evening resulted in Spears being hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Federline currently retains sole legal and physical custody of the couple’s two sons, Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1. Spears was stripped of all visitation rights following her hospitalization.

Source: People Magazine

TMZ has learned that Monday’s custody hearing could be one of the most important days in Britney Spears’ life. We’re told Brit must show and face the judge if she’s got any hope of getting her kids back. Our sources tell us if she doesn’t show, or is uncooperative, it could be curtains for her custody case.

What’s more, police sources tell TMZ that Commissioner Scott Gordon will hear firsthand eyewitness accounts of last Thursday’s breakdown from LAPD, firefighters and paramedics who were on scene. We’re told they’re not going to paint a pretty picture.

Also, we’ve learned the L.A County Sheriff’s Department isn’t taking any chances — they’re ready for anything. If Brit Brit loses it in court, they’ll be there to “handle” the situation.

Source: TMZ

Britney Spears lost her child-visitation rights Friday following her 72-hour lockdown for a mental evaluation.

Kevin Federline is “awarded sole legal custody and sole physical custody of the minor children,” court Commissioner Scott Gordon said in a written ruling after an emergency hearing.

Gordon said Spears’s “visitation with the minor children is suspended pending further order of the court.”

The order is in effect until Jan. 14.

After the 40-minute hearing, Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said: “There are no winners here.”

He said he was “not happy about any of the events that have happened.”

Police responded to Spears’s house on Thursday night after she refused to turn over the boys to Federline’s bodyguard after a visitation day. Kaplan arrived at the house “to bring a document … that identified the existing court order” about custody, he earlier told the Associated Press.

“I was up at the guard gate where (she) lives,” he told AP. “I did not go in” to the home.

On Friday, Kaplan and Spears’s attorney met privately with the judge in his chambers, then returned in the afternoon for a closed hearing.

Spears, meanwhile, is not facing any criminal charges – for now.

“The LAPD is not planning to file any charges against Ms. Spears at this time,” Officer April Harding tells PEOPLE. “The investigation is ongoing.”

Source: People Magazine