By Roger Friedman

The long and winding custody and visitation case between Michael Jackson and ex-wife Debbie Rowe is about to be settled.

According to sources, an actual settlement agreement has been reached by the two sides. Jackson has signed off on it, and now Rowe’s lawyers are apparently looking over the final wording before allowing their client to enter into the agreement.

The reason for Rowe’s reluctance is simple: In July 2005 they thought they had a settlement, until Jackson’s lawyers put in new wording that cut Rowe off from her kids forever.

Rowe refused to sign, and the situation became much worse. An appeals court eventually reinstated all her parental rights despite Jackson’s willingness to try and buy them from her.

Jackson and Rowe have two children, Prince and Paris, while Jackson’s third child, a boy nicknamed Blanket, was acquired by Jackson when he used an anonymous surrogate.

According to my sources, between the now defunct couple, Rowe is the only biological parent of Prince and Paris.

This is how Michael Abrams, Jackson’s lawyer, described the situation in a letter on July 5, 2005, to Rowe’s then-attorney Iris Finsilver: “As you know, one of our clients [Jackson] is the custodial parent of two children born by one your clients [Rowe].” He did not refer to Jackson as the children’s father.

Four years earlier, Rowe characterised the reason she had the children in her testimony. “I did it for him to become a father.”

A settlement now would be much different than the one that was drafted in July 2005. Rowe would likely get all the money Jackson has put in escrow since October 2003, when he cut her off from her alimony, and she will probably get a bonus as well.

But the main thing Rowe gains here is the ability to see her children on a regular basis. The settlement comes at an opportune time in Jackson’s strange life for Rowe. Until May, he claimed the non-Hague country of Bahrain as his residence. Now that he is domiciled in Ireland, the settlement will actually be enforceable.

Source: FOX News

Category: General