Michael Jackson’s mother, ex-wife reach agreement on children custody

Lawyers for Michael Jackson's mother and ex-wife on Thursday officially announced an agreement that would make Katherine Jackson the guardian of all three of the late pop star's children.
File photo taken on November 14, 1996 shows Michael Jackson and Deborah Rowe in California, U.S.(Xinhua/Reuters file Photo)

Under the deal, which is expected to be ratified by a Los Angeles judge at a hearing Monday, Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe will have visitation rights with the two older children she bore for Jackson -- 12-year-old Prince Michael and 11-year-old Paris. "There is no situation better for these children than for them to be raised and reared in the loving care of Mrs. Katherine Jackson," Londell McMillan, Katherine Jackson's lawyer, earlier told CBS in an interview. The lawyer said the agreement with Jackson's ex-wife was not about money. Rowe, 50, had been contemplating challenging the ruling of the judge who granted Katharine Jackson custody of Jackson's three minor children, including 7-year-old Prince Michael II, who was from an unidentified surrogate mother. Jackson said in a 2002 will that he wanted his mother to raise his children after his death, and that they should go to music legend Diana Ross, 65, if his mother became unable to carry out his wishes. Jackson's children has been staying with Katharine Jackson at her Los Angeles home since his death on June 25. The results of toxicology tests from the official autopsy had been expected to be released this week, but the Los Angeles Countycoroner's office now says they will not be made public before next week at the earliest. The autopsy report is widely expected to show that Jackson had been given propofol, a strong sedative known by the brand name Diprivan, which is usually used in a hospital setting for general an aesthesia.
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