Jackson's Mother and Ex-Wife Plot Secret Custody Deal

July 13, 2009— -- Michael Jackson's mother and ex-wife are working out a deal behind closed doors that would allow them to avoid a custody battle and guarantee that the pop star's father could never get custody of the singer's three children.

Sources told ABC News.com that Debbie Rowe, the former Mrs. Jackson and mother of his two oldest children, is willing to forego a fight for the children if their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, allows her more time to visit with the kids, and guarantees that their grandfather, Joe Jackson, whom Michael accused of abuse, could never be named a guardian.

A custody hearing scheduled for today has been postponed until July 20.

"We are pleased that the child custody hearing has been continued over until July 20 to further our progress and allow us to privately and amicably resolve this most important matter in a dignified manner for the benefit of the children first and all involved," Katherine Jackson's lawyer, L. Londell McMillan, said in a statement to The Associated Press.

In his last will, written in 2002 and filed in court the week after his June 25 death, Michael Jackson left custody of his three children, aged 7, 11 and 12, to their grandmother, 79.

In the immediate aftermath of Jackson's death, a probate court awarded temporary custody of the children to Katherine Jackson, but speculation -- fueled by Rowe's own comments -- suggested that Rowe might push to get custody of the kids.

Rowe, who, for a decade has been absent from the lives of the children she carried, told a Los Angeles television station four days after Jackson died that she wanted custody, saying: "I want my children."

Her lawyer Eric George tried to temper those comments, maintaining for weeks that "Debbie has not reached a final decision on the pending custody proceeding."

Another source close to Rowe previously told ABCNews.com that Rowe was considering seeking custody because she believed Katherine Jackson was too old to care for the children and because she did not want them near Joe Jackson.

"There is concern about Joe Jackson being around the kids," the source said.

There is also speculation that any deal Rowe and Katherine Jackson work out could potentially come with money for Rowe.

Court records indicate that Rowe has been compensated in the past for relinquishing guardianship.

Transcripts of a 2005 custody hearing, obtained by the Web site TMZ, spell out what has long been assumed: Rowe received a hefty settlement to stay out of the children's lives when the couple divorced in 1999.