Don't Count Out Debbie Yet: Rowe's Lawyer to Attend Custody Hearing

Thu., Jul. 2, 2009 8:55 AM PDT by Josh Grossberg

Jim Smeal/Getty Images

Debbie Rowe may have beat it from her kids' lives—and blatantly omitted from her ex's will—but she's apparently not going away quietly when it comes to the two children she had with Michael Jackson.

Rowe is dispatching her lawyer to attend next Monday's custody hearing to make sure her voice is heard regarding the fate of 12-year-old Prince Michael and 11-year-old Paris. Per Michael's wishes, the two children have been in the care of Michael's mother, Katherine Jackson, since his untimely death last week.

Contrary to tabloid reports that Prince and Paris were conceived via donor egg and sperm outside the womb, Rowe's attorney, Marta Almli, has adamantly insisted she is the biological mother of Prince and Paris.

View the children's birth certificates

The former dermatologist's nurse was left out Jackson's will, which stipulated that Katherine, should raise his spawn. And should the 79-year-old family matriarch be unwilling or unable to do so, then old friend Diana Ross would be granted custody. In fact, Jackson only name-checked Rowe by expressly stating she would not be getting any money or property from his estate.

Of course, the will as written in 2002, two years after she received a multimillion-dollar divorce payout in which she agreed to relinquish all parental rights.

But after the Moonwalker was rung up on child molestation charges in 2003, Rowe sought to reinstate visitation rights with their two children. She and Jackson reached an amicable resolution in 2006, though details of the arrangement remain murky.

While it's unclear whether Rowe will seek guardianship or visitation rights, there is a slight chance the Jackson children could be split up. The mother of Jackson's third child, Blanket, has never been revealed.

"Courts do split up kids—not infrequently—in blended families when one parent dies," says Scott Altman, associate dean at the University of Southern California's law school.

Although he admits it's unlikely, "it wouldn't be shocking if the court wanted to keep these kids together," he tells E! News.

Monday's family court session will attempt to sort all these issues out. Until then, Katherine maintains temporary custody of all three children.

—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller