Britney Spears' Divorce Finalized, Custody Fight Persists

It's official. The Brit Split is a done deal.

Lawyers for both Britney Spears, 25, and Kevin Federline, 29, were present at a Los Angeles Superior court yesterday when a judge signed the papers that legally ended their marriage.

Commissioner Scott M. Gordon also granted Spears' request to seal the child custody agreement "for the interest in the safety of the children." Gordon granted the request temporarily pending a full hearing on August 14.

Britney Spears' lawyer, Laura Wasser told reporters, "The divorce is final. [Britney] is okay with the arrangement. She would like to be with the kids more. She said that. [She] thinks [Kevin Federline] would like that too."

But while today's decision allows the exes to continue with shared custody of their children, a source close to Kevin Federline says he may seek full custody.

"Mark Vincent Kaplan (K-Fed's lawyer) has been watching and monitoring Britney Spears' behavior very closely," says the source.

"There is a clause in the divorce so either parent can seek full custody and it is very possible that you will see Kaplan seeking full custody for Kevin as early as this week... he is concerned with Britney's erratic behavior and he needs to make sure his kids are protected. Britney Spears has not met benchmarks for sobriety as outlined in the agreement."

Britney Spears filed for divorce from Federline on November 7, 2006, after just two years of marriage. Citing "irreconcilable differences," she asked for both legal and physical custody of the children with visitation rights for FedEx within reason.

Federline and Spears' mom, Lynne Spears, threatened to take the couple's children in order to get Spears to go to rehab in February. During that period, the kids visited her regularly.

In March, Spears and Federline came to an out-of-court settlement which gave the couple shared custody of 22 month-old Sean Preston and 10 month-old Jayden James. Reportedly, the financial aspects of the breakup were simple due to an iron-clad prenup.

On her website in May, Spears told fans that "when [marriage] was gone... I did not know what to do with myself, and it made me so sad. I confess, I was so lost."

Given the events of last week - when Spears took Sean Preston and Jayden James to Vegas without the requisite permission from K-Fed, only to get involved in a scuffle between her bodyguard, Julio "JC" Camera, and the paparazzi - that's the understatement of the year.

Meanwhile, Laura Wasser is fighting to keep the terms of the agreement private, stating that if they aren't, the press has reason to "ascertain the whereabouts" of the children.

"Such information greatly increases the chances that the actions of the media could threaten the safety of the minor children by, for example, causing a traffic accident or by exposing the minor children to criminals who might target the children for financial gain," Wasser wrote.

So, someone is going to try to kidnap Jayden James is what she's implying. Sure. Like our man Julio Camera and Daimon Shippen are gonna let that happen.